The Lady and the Tramp
by generalquistis
Summary: Dark Nation runs away from ShinRa because of "animal abuse" and ends up in Sector 7 a.k.a. The Slums... What happens when Rufus ShinRa's pet ends up in the hands of AVALANCHE?
1. Chapter 1

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

**Author's Notes**: Hahaha! It's me again! So here it is… _The Lady & the Tramp_… now what does this have to do with the Disney cartoon about dogs? Nothing, really… this isn't really a parody of that cartoon… in fact, it's just the title… Okay, fine, enough with the chitchat, I'll proceed…

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            "Meowrrrr…" 

Rufus shifted to the other side, avoiding the face of his pet before he opened his eyes. "Oh, good morning, Dark Nation…" he greeted sleepily.

"Meowrr…" she purred as she nuzzled her head against his neck. He sat up and patted her head. "Good girl." He said before getting out of bed. Before he could enter the bathroom, he stopped when he heard some footsteps outside his bedroom. "Incoming…" he muttered.

"Meow?" Dark Nation asked, wondering what he meant by that.

To her surprise, the door just burst open and there was General Heidegger together with Scarlet.

"Oh no… it's them again…" Rufus thought miserably as he grabbed his robe and put it on as quickly as he could so that they would not tease him about wearing silk boxers for sleeping. 

"Gyahahaha… pleasant morning, President Rufus, sir!" Heidegger greeted.

Rufus just stared at them.

"Kyah… how was your sleep, sir?" Scarlet asked.

Rufus just snorted and stomped his way to the bathroom, banging the door as he got inside.

"That was some greeting…kya~h…" Scarlet muttered to Heidegger.

Dark Nation hissed at Scarlet, meaning to warn the human woman about saying snide remarks about Rufus's current mood. "Who wouldn't get angry at the sight of you dweebs first thing in the morning?" Dark Nation thought.

Scarlet stuck out her tongue at Dark Nation. "Kyahahahahaha! Nasty panther!" she teased.

Dark Nation turned her head away from her, as if saying, "Hmf!"

"Gyahahaha… that thing is like her master: snobbish…" Heidegger remarked.

Scarlet made a disgusted face. "What are we doing here, anyway?" she asked.

"Gyahahahahaha! We're here to wake up the President if he's still asleep, but he's already awake, so all we have to do is to wait for him to give out orders to us before he leaves for Nibelheim." He explained.

Dark Nation's ears twitched. "Nibelheim? Master Rufus is leaving for Nibelheim?" she thought as she turned back to Scarlet and Heidegger, then turned to the bathroom door with a nervous look on her face. She ran to the bathroom door and began to pound on the door, as if knocking. "Mew…mew…" she called out.

Heidegger and Scarlet stared at Dark Nation for a while. The former made a comment, "Gyah… I could've sworn that cat's beginning to act almost like a human… if only she could talk…" he said.

"Kyahahaha! In your wildest dreams!" Scarlet said.

Rufus got out of the bathroom wearing his black long-sleeved turtleneck, white trousers and brown boots. He was drying his hair with a battery-operated hair dryer as he saw Dark Nation by the door. He raised his eyebrows at her as if asking, "What?"

"Meowrrr…" she rubbed her head against his left leg as if asking, "Where are you going?" 

Rufus ignored her, not wishing to show his affection to his pet in front of Heidegger and Scarlet. "I'll be leaving Dark Nation here in Midgar and I want you to take good care of her while I'm away for three weeks." He commanded the two.

Dark Nation lowered her gaze to the floor, suddenly feeling so disappointed. "Meowrr…" she said with a low tone.

Rufus put down the hair dryer, leaving his hair a little damp before proceeding to comb it backwards. "I'll be taking the Turks with me to Nibelheim… we need to restore that town, you know?" he asked.

"Gyahahahahahaah! Yessir!" Heidegger laughed, but deep inside, he was thinking, "He was able to survive the explosion… but did he hit his head or something? Why would he want to restore that town?"

Scarlet snorted and watched quietly as Rufus started to apply some gel on his hair. "Oh, and Scarlet, I want you to design a new weapon as strong as that Diamond Weapon that nearly destroyed me…" he said with a sly smile on her face.

She thought for a while. "Sure, President Rufus, sir." She said.

"Oh, and try to make it appealing. I don't like the weapons you designed during old man's regime… they suck… no wonder Cloud Strife and his gang was able to defeat some of those easily…" he added with a nasty tone. Scarlet stifled a "Kya~h" that could reveal her anger upon being insulted. She just said, "Yes, sir, I'm sorry, sir… kya~h…" and then turned to Dark Nation who seemed to be laughing in one corner of the room.

"Heidegger," Rufus began.

"Yes, President Rufus?" Heidegger asked.

"By the time I return here, I want some progress on every single division of this company. Everyone should be able to make a full executive report including you. That's the reason why I'm taking the Turks instead of any of you turds." Rufus said before heading to his coat rack and got his two coats and put them on. Afterwards, he opened a closet and pulled out his shotgun. "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself," he said before facing them with a hard look on his face. "So, is the chopper ready?" he asked.

*** 

            Dark Nation watched quietly as the chopper finally took off. "He didn't even pat my head for the last time…" she thought miserably as she lied down on the floor.

"And he left me under the care of these miserable idiots…" she thought angrily, remembering Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve. "Except maybe for Reeve… he likes kitties… he never harmed me… he never insults me…" she thought before standing up, proceeding to look for Reeve.

She began to roam around the whole building but she couldn't find him. "Where is he?" she thought frantically as she began to run. "Meowwrr!" she meowed, as if calling out "Reeve!" But she stopped in her tracks when she received a surprise from Heidegger who was holding a leash and a muzzle. "MEOOWWWRRR!" she screeched as she ran to the other direction, surprising Heidegger. "Hey, Dark Nation! Come back here! It's time for your breakfast! Gyah!!!" he said, running after her.

She ran as fast as she could until she was able to ride the elevator heading downstairs. 

"Smart kitty…Gyah! She's so darn fast!" he said while panting as he rode the other elevator.

Dark Nation pressed the button for the Lobby and she arrived there before Heidegger could, but the moment she stepped out of the elevator, Heidegger came out from the other one. "GYAH! There you are!" he said.

She hissed and ran off heading outside the building and out of the ShinRa HQ grounds, making Heidegger panic all of a sudden. "OH NO!!!!??? She got out! PRESIDENT RUFUS IS GOING TO KILL ME!" he said aloud in a very frantic manner before fainting.

Scarlet stood in one corner, tapping her feet as she crossed her arms across her chest, staring at Heidegger who just passed out on the floor. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Kya~hahahahah… pathetic…" she muttered with a mocking smile on her face before she finally started to laugh out loud, shocking everyone at the lobby with her loud cackle: "Kya~h ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!"

Reeve shook his head in disbelief. "I told you to hide that first before you go and tell her to eat her breakfast, General Heidegger…" he muttered as he stood beside Scarlet.

"What's he doing with that thing anyhow?" she asked.

"It came from the lost and found and he wanted to take it down to Hojo's old lab… Dark Nation must've thought that he's gonna put a leash on her and a muzzle…" he explained.

*** 

            "That man is really the most evil in the company next to Rufus's daddy!" Dark Nation thought as she continued to run until she reached a place filled with too many people. "EW! What is this dirty place?!" she demanded angrily in her thoughts as she tried to avoid everyone.

"Oh my… what a big kitty!" she heard one woman say.

"I think that one came from the zoo…"

"Maybe she belongs to one of the elites from Sector 1!" 

"That cat must be worth a million Gil!"

Dark Nation stopped running because she was already beginning to get tired. She just decided to walk slowly, trying to catch her breath as she still tried to avoid the people.

"I think this is the place that Master Rufus calls _the slums_." She thought as she gazed up at the structure of the houses around her and the way the people are dressed up and going about their business. She twitched her nose. "Man, this place stinks!" she thought miserably as she tried to hurry it up a little, but she stopped and screeched when somebody bumped against her. She scratched the big ugly stranger and ran off after hearing him say, "OW! The fuck?!" 

Some people tried to touch her but she hated everyone… "ARGH! Get your filthy hands off me!" as if meaning to say that while growling and hissing an scratching and biting anyone who tried to touch her or catch her.

She continued to run until she reached a dark alley where there were trashcans and old fertilizer sacks scattered around the place. She wanted to get out of that horrible place but she knew she had to hide from _those evil_ civilians. "They're so uncouth! They're all ugly!" she thought, suddenly missing the handsome face of her master. "…I wonder what Master Rufus is doing now?" she thought sadly.

She could feel her stomach rumbling and she was already very thirsty. "…and I'm already very dirty…" she thought miserably. She let out a low "Meowrrr…" as if declaring to the world "I wanna go to Master Rufus so that he could feed me and bathe me… I miss him already… and now I'm in this strange place with nobody to take care of me… that evil Heidegger is really a bad man…" she wanted to cry but cats don't cry. She just whimpered and lied down on her stomach, feeling so miserable. "I'm going to die in this stupid place… feh… but I'm gonna bite their hands off if any person from the slums tried to touch me! I can't let their ugly filthy hands touch me… they're so uncouth! How dare they treat the presidential pet this way!" she thought miserably.

Then, she heard someone singing from behind her. It came from inside one of the houses. Dark Nation raised her head to the direction where the voice was coming from and her eyes widened when she saw a door open, letting some light seep through that dark alley. 

It was a girl with long brown hair in braids. She was wearing a pink dress and she was carrying a plastic bag with dead flowers in it. She stopped singing as she threw the trash against Dark Nation, hitting the poor panther. 

"MEOWWR!" Dark Nation reacted as she jumped away from the trash and then hissed at the girl.

The girl blinked and covered her mouth in awe as she gasped. "Oh my goodness… I'm so sorry!" she said in apology.

Dark Nation hissed again.

The girl smiled gently at her and invited her to come nearer. "Here, kitty! C'mon! Don't worry, I won't bite!" she said to Dark Nation.

Dark Nation just eyed her, studying her green eyes, trying to sense if she was some other mean girl. "You won't bite but I will bite you if you do something bad to me!" she thought snottily as she hissed again.

The girl sighed heavily. "You look very hungry. Come inside… come on, kitty." She said, not giving up on her.

But Dark Nation still didn't trust her. She couldn't smell her well because of the over-powering stench of old fertilizer.

"Aerith, c'mon! Let's eat this before it gets cold!" they heard someone call from inside.

Another girl, Dark Nation realized.

Aerith turned back inside. "Tifa, come over here! There's a pretty black cat out here in the alley and she looks so hungry. Can we take her in?" she asked with an excited smile on her face.

"Tifa? Aerith? Now where did I hear those…" Dark Nation stopped her thoughts when she saw a dark haired girl with crimson eyes join Aerith by the doorway. 

Tifa smiled when she saw Dark Nation. "Oh my God! She's so beautiful!" she said happily as she bent down, reaching her hands to the black panther. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" she called out gently. "C'mon, come to Mommy Tifa…" she said.

Dark Nation studied Tifa for a while but she did not come near her. She just ran off. "Who are these people?!" Dark Nation thought as she ran away from the two girls.

Tifa blinked as Aerith groaned. "I think I frightened her…" Tifa said in disappointment.

"Nah… it's okay… let's just eat our breakfast before the boys come down and gobble it all up," Aerith said reassuringly as Tifa stood up again and went inside. Aerith closed the door before heading for the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of milk and then a big empty dish with the name "RED XIII" written on one side. "Here, Red!" she called out as she poured some milk on the dish and placed it on the floor by the sink.

Tifa sat down by the table. "I don't think Red's here, Mrs. Strife." She said as she looked around.

Aerith sighed heavily. "Oh well… maybe he just went outside to do his business since he's not allowed to use the bathroom upstairs." She said with a silly smile on her face before sitting down beside Tifa.

*** 

            "Meowrrr…" Dark Nation let out a miserable meow as she plopped down by the sidewalk, not caring if there were people there. The sun was already blazing hot and she had never felt so uncomfortable in her entire life. "It was better in ShinRa because they have air-conditioning units everywhere I go…" she thought miserably.

Then, she looked up when somebody blocked the sun from her, casting a shadow over her head by just standing there before her. "Mew?" she said as she twitched her ears.

"What are you doing lying on the sidewalk?" it asked.

"It can talk Human language?!" Dark Nation thought in disbelief, her mouth dropping open in surprise. "Meorrr…" she responded, meaning to say, "I'm tired and hungry and I want to take a bath!"

To her surprise, he understood. "Then why don't you go back to where you belong?" 

She got up and hissed at him. "As if I could do that?! Those nasty people from ShinRa are going to tie me up and keep me in a cage until Master comes back!" she replied through thought.

"ShinRa?" the red animal asked in disbelief.

"You know? ShinRa? The most powerful Company in all of the Planet?" Dark Nation responded with a snobbish look on her face.

The red animal just stared in awe at her. "If you're from ShinRa, then what are you doing here?" he questioned.

"Call it _animal abuse_." She said before turning away and plopping down again towards the other direction.

The red animal stared down at her as he moved beside her, "My name is Red XIII. What's your?" he asked.

"Dark Nation…" she replied miserably with a low "meowrrr".

"I see…" Red replied, realizing who she really is. He just nodded, pretending not to know her at all. "You really look famished." He started.

"Isn't it obvious? Now, give me some food, you filthy animal." She said in a commanding manner.

"Like owner, like pet…" Red thought with a funny face before he sat down beside her. "You're in the slums. You're not in your Palace. We get our own food here." He reminded her.

"WHAT?! So this is really the… the most unpleasant place in the Planet!" she snapped snobbishly as she stood up and moved away from him.

"Most unpleasant for you, because you don't know what it's like living here. But really, my human companions are happily living here even if they're not raised here because life is simple and free. I was just trying to help you but you don't seem to like to appreciate it since you're a Princess and I'm just a mere animal roaming the streets that could qualify for the pound. Now if you'll excuse me, Miss Dark Nation, ma'am," he said sarcastically before finally deciding to live.

Dark Nation covered her eyes with her front paws. "Oh man… if only I ran into the arms of that girl a while ago… I wouldn't die of starvation here…" she thought miserably before finally deciding to stand up and go after Red XIII. "Wait, sir!" 

He stopped and turned to her. Finally, they were walking together. "Can I come with you? I'm really hungry. I promise that when Master gets back from Nibelheim, I'll tell him to give you a reward for taking care of me." She said.

Red XIII studied her for a while. "Oh yeah? What kind of reward?" he asked with a challenging tone.

"Uhm… like a new litter box?" she asked.

He laughed at her. "Ma'am, I can live without a litter box. Besides, I'm not a cat. I don't need kitty litter." He told her as they continued to walk.

Finally, they arrived at medium-sized house with two stories. Red XIII began to knock by banging his right paw against the door. After waiting for a few seconds, a spiky-haired blonde man opened the door and upon looking down at Red XIII and seeing Dark Nation, he almost gasped and took a few steps backward away from the door. "What the…" he stammered.

Dark Nation hissed at Red XIII and at Cloud. "You tricked me! You're with this Cloud Strife!" she snapped at Dark Nation.

Red XIII just ignored her as he stepped inside. "Don't you wanna come in, Miss Dark Nation? I thought you're hungry?" he asked.

Cloud was still in awe. "W…what?! Red, what the… how… of all the females animals, why her?!" he said in disbelief.

"I didn't mate with her, okay? She's just hungry." Red replied with a disgusted facial expression.

"What's going on, Cloud?" 

Dark Nation turned to the woman with brown hair. "It's her again…" she thought.

Aerith smiled. "Oh my… it's that pretty kitty again!" she said in disbelief.

"You've seen her around?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah, she was there at the back alley early this morning. Tifa and I were inviting her in but she wouldn't come inside…" Aerith explained before Tifa arrived. Tifa gasped happily. "Kitty!" she exclaimed before running to Dark Nation.

Dark Nation, upon shock, wasn't able to move. Tifa knelt down and embraced the black cat. "Oh, you're the most adorable black panther I've ever seen in my entire life!" she said happily.

"Uh… Tifa… you wouldn't wanna embrace that cat…" Cloud began nervously.

Tifa looked up at Cloud. "Why? She's very beautiful! Her fur's very shiny and thick…" she said.

"Yeah, Cloud. What's so wrong with that cat?" Aerith asked.

Cloud fell silent and turned to Red XIII before turning away from everyone and headed upstairs. "Never mind…" he muttered glumly.

Suddenly, Dark Nation felt so secure in Tifa's arms. She found herself purring and nuzzling her head against her neck. "Meowrrr."

Tifa giggled and patted Dark Nation's head gently. "I wonder if somebody owns you already… you're really very beautiful…" she whispered gently as Aerith came to them and patted Dark Nation's head then tickled her chin.

"Of course, I'm the most beautiful pet! Hah!" Dark Nation thought proudly.

Red XIII rolled his eyes. 

"Is she your new girlfriend, Red? When's she giving birth?" Aerith asked.

Red and Dark Nation sneered. "NO!" the two said, but Dark Nation could only let out a hiss.

Tifa giggled. "Do you have a name?" she asked Dark Nation.

"Her name's Princess," Red XIII lied.

Dark Nation turned to him. "That's not my name!" she snapped.

"I know, but do you think that if I tell them that your real name is Dark Nation, they'll still let you in?" Red muttered, loud enough for only Dark Nation to hear and understand.

"You're saying something, Red?" Aerith asked, turning to him in surprise.

Red XIII jerked and looked away. "N…no, I was just yawning…" he replied sheepishly.

Dark Nation turned to Tifa with pitiful eyes. "Mew…" she started.

Tifa could feel her heart sinking. "Awww… you're such an adorable little Princess…" she said before she kissed Dark Nation's head, but she made a face. "Ugh… you really need a bath, Princess…" she said.

Dark Nation just nodded her head in agreement. "Mowrrr…"

Aerith patted Dark Nation's head. "Tell you what, Princess, we'll give you a bath first and then we'll feed you anything you want!" she said reassuringly.

"Anything?!" Dark Nation's ears twitched in delight.

"You wouldn't wanna spoil the Princess, girls," Red XIII warned.

"Why?" Tifa asked.

Aerith narrowed her eyes at Dark Nation and smiled teasingly at him. "Oh, I see… my little pet here is jealous of a black panther…" she said airily.

Red XIII frowned. "No, I'm not jealous…" he replied. "…you'll change your mind about spoiling her if you knew who she really is…" he thought silently as he made a face at Dark Nation.

"Hmf!" Dark Nation thought as she nuzzled her face closer to Tifa's face.

Red XIII sighed before running upstairs.

"Where is that guy going?" Dark Nation thought.

Aerith got up. "I'll prepare a nice warm bath for her. I'll call you when it's ready, okay?" she asked before heading upstairs.

Tifa nodded. "Thanks, Aerith," she called out before turning back to Dark Nation hugging her tightly. "Let's go inside, Princess," she said before standing up and stepping inside.

Dark Nation got inside the house in a hurry and gazed around the house, looking up at the not-so-high ceiling. "Master's bedroom is bigger…" she thought snottily before she remembered Red XIII's words earlier that day, "_But really, my human companions are happily living here even if they're not raised here because life is simple and free."_  She turned to Tifa, observing her movements: simple yet graceful. Dark Nation remembered the other girls trying to flirt with her Master Rufus but Rufus had succeeded in warding them off because he hated all of them. Those girls' movements were nothing compared to Tifa, because they were plainly exaggerated. 

"Tifa! It's ready!" Aerith's voice called out from upstairs.

"Coming!" Tifa called out before turning to Dark Nation. "Let's go, Princess." She said as she led the way upstairs.

Dark Nation followed shyly and slowly, examining and smelling her surroundings and the floor. 

The second floor hallway wasn't that big either, but there were four rooms. All doors were open so she could see what's inside as she passed by. The first door to the left, she figured, must be Cloud Strife & Aerith's room because she saw Cloud seated there and talking to Red XIII and she also saw that rod-like weapon that Aerith uses for battle. On the other side, there was this other door and a big fat man whom she was able to recognize as Barret Wallace was seated on the bed, stretching, but he stopped his current activity when he saw her. "Holy shit! What the…" he said, rushing outside, startling Dark Nation, so she ran to Tifa and hid behind her as the human turned to face the big fat man. 

Barret stared unbelievably at Dark Nation and then at Tifa. "Teef… that's a big stray you got there…" he said.

Tifa smiled and patted Dark Nation's head. "It's okay, Princess. His name's Barret. Don't worry, he's nice," she told her reassuringly before turning back to Barret. "Red brought her home." She said.

"Are you keeping her?" Barret asked, wanting to come near Dark Nation but she hissed. "Whoa… nice kitty…" he said.

"I don't know… I'll think about it… she could be lost or something… judging by the looks of her fur, I think she must've come from Sector 1 or so…" Tifa said as she stroked Dark Nation's fur.

The door next to Barret's room revealed a room two separate beds on each corner with two sleeping men, and the door next to Cloud and Aerith's room revealed a small room with three separate beds. The wall was covered in faded pink wallpaper. A girl with short hair was seated on the bed, putting on her shoes, while a little girl was combing her reddish brown hair in front of the mirror. 

At the end of the hallway was the bathroom. Aerith was there, checking the temperature of the water inside the tub. "Is it okay if we use the shampoo we use on Red?" she asked Tifa.

"I think so…" Tifa said.

Dark Nation twitched. "Oh no…" she thought miserably.

*** 


	2. Chapter 2

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

_______________________________________________________

            Cloud scratched his head uncomfortably. "Are you sure she's telling you the truth?" he asked Red XIII.

"Give me reasons why I shouldn't trust the black panther." Red replied with a stiff look on his face.

Cloud stared at him for a while before replying: "She came from ShinRa. Rufus owns her. Rufus finds her here, we all die."

"Like you'll let him kill all of us? I doubt if he'll even harm a pregnant woman like Aerith," Red said.

Cloud shook his head. "Red, I don't know what's up with ya!" he said before standing up in alarm and headed out of the room and turned to the direction of the bathroom, surprised to see Aerith and Tifa crowding inside, giving the black panther a bath. He just stood by the doorway of the bathroom, observing them and the way Tifa treats the black panther. He made a face upon looking at Dark Nation, remembering his first battle with her and her master. "Damn it… Tifa seems so attached to that animal… if I tell her that she's Dark Nation, she might freak… maybe Red is right about that _animal abuse_ thing that Dark Nation told him… maybe the cat's had enough… oh well, if she's happy with Tifa… hmf… but I'll have to observe closely… who knows, she could be carrying spy cams under that thick black fur…" he thought silently as he watched Aerith scrub Dark Nation's fur gently with a sponge.

Cloud crossed his arms. "…On second thought, those spy cams could've electrocuted them if she had some under that fur…" he thought as he leaned against the doorway, clearing his throat to get the girls' attention.

Dark Nation turned to him. "Meowrrr…" she told him with a sweet look on her face.

Aerith looked up at him. "Hello, Cloud. Breakfast is ready downstairs. Tifa and I just ate earlier… we're giving her a bath." She said.

Cloud examined Aerith for a while. "You shouldn't be moving too much, it's bad for our baby." He said.

"I'm only 2 months pregnant, Cloud, it's gonna be okay." She said with a wink before turning back to Dark Nation, helping Tifa with the scrubbing.

"Meowrrr?" Dark Nation uttered, turning to Aerith as if asking, "You're going to have a baby?"

"Hold still, Princess. We're gonna rinse you now," Aerith said gently with a sweet smile on her face.

"Princess?" Cloud asked.

"It's her name." Tifa reasoned as she rinsed off the shampoo from Dark Nation's fur.

Cloud raised his eyebrow. "Princess?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Anything wrong, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shook his head frantically before running back to Red XIII and closed the door behind him, panting heavily. 

Red XIII just looked up at him with sleepy eyes before jumping up on the bed and lied down there on his stomach. "You look angry. Why don't you let it out? Keep it all inside, you'll end up being like Rufus ShinRa." He said glumly but with a nagging tone.

Cloud just took a deep breath and released it as he leaned against the door. "Princess?" he asked, still in awe.

"If I told them her real name, they might get afraid… the poor girl needs to eat." Red XIII replied.

Cloud groaned miserably before plopping down beside the Red XIII.

"You're so out of character today…" Red XIII told him.

"I'm just in awe because of that cat. What if she's just one of ShinRa's traps? I'm the only one here who really knows how nasty that thing is… I don't know about you…" Cloud muttered glumly.

"She looks nice… she's just spoiled…" Red told him.

"Whose side are you on? AVALANCHE or ShinRa?" Cloud muttered. 

Red didn't answer.

Cloud sat up, staring at Red XIII with wide eyes. "Don't tell me you're… you're her boyfriend?" he asked.

*** 

            "YEEEOUCH!!!!!"

Tifa and Aerith stopped for a while.

Aerith giggled. "Maybe Red XIII bit Cloud's hand again." She said.

Tifa laughed as she started to dry up Dark Nation's fur with a hair dryer while Aerith rubbed a big pink towel against the fur. 

Dark Nation sat up stiffly but still with poise, like a royal cat.

"This cat really has bearing, don't you think?" Tifa asked.

"Uh-huh." Aerith agreed as she nodded her head with a smile on her face before giggling again, "What if a handsome prince owns her and he comes looking for her and he finds you with her and then he's gonna fall in-love with you and he'll take you away back to his beautiful castle! That'd be so romantic, don't you think, Tifa?" she asked with excitement in her green eyes.

Dark Nation twitched her ears. "No Prince… but my owner's looks could qualify him to be a prince." She wanted to say out loud to them but she just can't; all she could do was say, "Meowrrr"

Tifa patted Dark Nation's head upon hearing her meow. "I don't think so, Aerith… what kind of Prince would fall in-love with a girl from the slums like me?" she asked.

"You came from an upper-middle classed family in Nibelheim, you're not really from the slums." Aerith reminded her.

"That was in Nibelheim. I'm in Midgar now. Sector 7, Midgar: a.k.a. The Slums." Tifa corrected with a stern look.

Aerith examined Tifa, noticing how she was avoiding her gaze. "You sound pessimistic. Is it because of me?" Aerith asked.

Tifa shook her head sadly as she turned the hair dryer nozzle toward Dark Nation's right side. "No… it isn't. I told you, you and Cloud do not have anything to do with any of my problems, okay?" she asked with a reassuring smile as she turned her gaze to Aerith.

Aerith noticed Tifa's eyes glistening with some tears. "…Tifa," she began.

Tifa just smiled bitterly as Dark Nation turned to her. "Mew?" the cat asked, meaning to say, "Are you okay?" To her surprise, Tifa just embraced her and she felt the girl crying against her fur. "Why…why is she crying?" she thought as she moved away from Aerith and moved closer to Tifa, nuzzling her head against her neck and started to make whimpering noises. Aerith smiled gently as she stroked Dark Nation's fur. "Where did you come from?" she thought sadly.

Yuffie watched quietly from their bedroom, eyeing Tifa with pity in her eyes. Marlene sat down beside Yuffie. "Why is Miss Tifa crying?" she asked softly.

Yuffie patted Marlene's shoulder. "Same reason as always, Marlene…" she replied softly.

Marlene looked down at the floor. "Does he even know she exists?" she asked.

Yuffie shrugged. "Even if we say maybe, I really think it's too late… she can't reach him now…" she replied sadly.

They looked up, turning their gazes to the door facing their room, curious to see Vincent standing by the doorway and staring unbelievably at Dark Nation and Tifa, but he didn't say anything though his eyes were wide. He just walked away, knocking at Cloud's room.

"Yeah?" Cloud called out from inside.

"May I have a word with you?" Vincent asked, still keeping his eye on Dark Nation.

Cloud opened the door with a bandage around his right hand and noticed Vincent still staring at Dark Nation unbelievably. Cloud made a face. "That's Dark Nation's mate." He said airily.

"Are you going to stop teasing me or you want your left hand to have a bandage around it too?" Red XIII snapped from the bed, wagging his tail back and forth.

Cloud rolled his eyes and turned back to Vincent. "Wanna hear the story of the Lady and the Tramp? Come inside, this tramp will tell ya," he said, referring to Red XIII.

Red just looked away.

"I don't know what's going on here but I think you'd better get rid of that cat before the Turks come looking for it." Vincent whispered as he got inside.

"Tell that to Tifa. She loves it." Cloud said.

"She means no harm. She's hungry. Just let her stay here for a while and then Cloud could just take her back to ShinRa after the girls feed her." Red XIII told them reassuringly.

"Oh yeah? How can you say that? Have you seen that nasty thing stand beside her master and fight me?" Cloud told him.

"I can smell her. She really means no harm, based on her scent. She's just spoiled and she's hungry and she needs food and water and that bath." Red XIII said sleepily before yawning.

Vincent approached Red XIII and bent down, examining him. "We oughtta castrate you before that black kitty ends up in ShinRa with little red kittens scurrying around Heidegger's ass." He said.

*** 

            "ARRGH! DAMN! ARRGH! OUCH!"

"Was that Vincent?" Aerith asked as she looked up at the ceiling.

They were already in the dining area of the kitchen and Tifa was preparing some tuna mixed with rice for Dark Nation.

Marlene laughed heartily. "Maybe Red bit his nose again! Teeheeheeheehee!" she said happily.

"Meowr?" Dark Nation asked, turning to Marlene, as if asking, "Does he have Rabies shots?"

Marlene jumped down from her seat and went to Dark Nation. "Kitty!" she said happily before embracing the black panther.

Dark Nation twitched her nose, sniffing Marlene for a while, and when she realized the good scent from the little girl, she began to purr and nuzzled her head against her. "Meowrrr…"

Barret smiled. "Looks like Marlene likes 'er too." He said.

Cid just observed them before taking a sip of coffee and got the newspaper from Barret's grasp. 

"Hey, you foo'! I wuz still readin' that!" Barret snapped angrily.

"Well I @#$%*# have it now! Take the business section," Cid replied, tossing him the Business Section of the paper. 

Barret muttered more curses before he proceeded to read.

Tifa placed the food dish on the floor by the kitchen sink and Marlene immediately let go of Dark Nation. "Go there Princess." She said.

Dark Nation rushed to the food dish and began to eat. "Hmm… not too bad…" she thought before turning her gaze up at Tifa while chewing.

Tifa smiled gently at her and patted her head before placing a water dish beside the food dish. "Drink lots of water afterwards, Princess. It's good for your digestion." She said.

Dark Nation nodded before proceeding to eat again.

Tifa went to the door. "Don't do anything to Princess, you hear?" she asked before she got out.

All eyes turned to Dark Nation, observing her as she ate. "That cat's really big…" Barret said.

"I wish Miss Tifa would keep her forever." Marlene said sadly as she sat down on the chair again.

"Oh no, Marlene. I don't think that panther could stay here forever. She should belong to a much bigger household." Barret said. 

"You mean from the elites?" Yuffie asked.

"Obvious from the look of her fur." Barret explained.

Cid laughed. "Maybe we could ask for ransom!" he kidded.

Dark Nation made a growling sound before starting to eat again, "Don't you dare…" she thought.

"No way! Besides, Tifa wouldn't like that. She'll take care of Princess for a while but she'll return her to where she came from." Aerith told them.

Cid's eyes suddenly grew wide in surprise when he flipped to the second page of the newspaper. "@#$%!" he cursed.

"What?" Yuffie asked before pouring milk on her cereal.

"They're restoring Nibelheim!" Cid announced.

Aerith's eyes grew wide in awe. "Really?" she asked as she went behind Cid to read over his shoulder.

Her mouth dropped open before she read some of the article aloud for everyone else in the room to hear, "President Rufus ShinRa of the ShinRa Electric Power Company is planning to restore the town Nibelheim in honor of his deceased mother who was born and died there…"

Dark Nation stopped eating and turned to all of them, uttering a loud "MEOW!" as if telling them proudly and happily, "That's my Master! That's my Master! He's going to restore Nibelheim! He went there!" 

"Gee… she seems happy," Barret figured out as he examined Dark Nation's face.

"Tifa is going to be happy when she hears that! Let's tell her once she gets back!" Yuffie said happily.

"Oh, the things we do just to keep that girl happy…" Barret muttered glumly before proceeding to read the Business Section. "Damn the news… everything's about ShinRa! Blah ShinRa, blah ShinRa, blah ShinRa… HAH!" he threw away the paper.

Dark Nation growled under her breath as she ate.

"Now she's angry. What's wrong with that cat?" Barret asked.

"The only thing wrong here is you talking against ShinRa!" Dark Nation thought.


	3. Chapter 3

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

_______________________________________________________

            Dark Nation drank some water after eating but ended up finishing the whole contents of the water dish. Afterwards, she looked around, hoping to find Tifa.

"You're looking for Teef? She left moments ago while you're eating," Barret told her, as if guessing why she was suddenly looking and sniffing around.

"Meorrr…" she said.

Then, all eyes turned to the stairs when they heard Vincent, Cloud and Red XIII going down.

"Meowr…" Dark Nation uttered, as if calling, "Red!"

Red rushed down ahead of Vincent and Cloud and headed for Dark Nation. "Oh there you are." He said.

Marlene looked up at Vincent's face and began to giggle hysterically. Yuffie was trying to stifle her laugh. Cid laughed out loud at the sight of the band-aid on Vincent's nose.

"I know, it's funny… stop laughing." Vincent muttered before sitting down.

Cloud sat down beside Vincent and raised his right hand on the table. "Aerith, did the vet give Red some rabies shots?" he asked with a glum look on his face.

Aerith's eyes grew wide. "Oh my goodness… no! I forgot to take him to the vet!" she said in shock.

Cloud and Vincent almost fell off from their seats. 

Aerith giggled. "I was just kidding!" she said reassuringly as she approached Cloud and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Cloud blushed for a while before turning to Cid, wanting to change the subject. "What's on the news?" he asked.

"Lotsa stuff about ShinRa's comeback." Cid replied.

"Oh, by the way, Rufus is restoring Nibelheim." Yuffie told Cloud.

"Really?" Cloud asked in awe.

Red XIII heard what they were talking about and then turned to Dark Nation, whispering, "Is that true?" he asked.

"Yep. Master left this morning to stay there for three weeks." She replied with a low "Meowrrr…" before looking around again. "What are their names again? I only remember Cloud," she told him.

"The little girl's Marlene. She's the daughter of that big bear-like guy named Barret Wallace. That guy beside Cloud is Vincent Valentine. He once worked with ShinRa, maybe that's why he could recognize you… then there's Yuffie, that girl with short hair? She's really a ninja though it isn't very obvious because of her looks." Red explained while pointing a paw at the following people.

"I see… what about that guy who kept on cussing?" she asked.

"Oh, that's Cid Highwind." He replied.

She thought for a while and then turned back to Red XIII. "What about the two nice ladies who gave me a bath?" she asked.

"The girl in braids… she's over there," Red said, referring to Aerith. "Her name's Aerith. She's Cloud Strife's wife now. They just got married 5 months ago and now she's expecting a baby." He explained.

Dark Nation nodded. "What about the other one with her?" she asked with lots of enthusiasm.

"Oh that girl with long dark hair? She's Tifa. Tifa Lockheart. You sound so curious about her," he pointed out.

Dark Nation plopped down on the floor, as if smiling when she declared, "She's very beautiful…" 

"Oh man… don't tell me you're a lesbian?!" Red snapped, making the others turn around to look at them.

"Oh look what you've done! They're looking at me! Of course not! I'm no lesbian! It's just that she's very beautiful, that's all… she's the most beautiful human girl I've ever seen." Dark Nation snapped.

Red XIII turned to all of them "I was just telling her stories," he declared.

With that, they proceeded with their own business and Red sighed in relief. "Almost got you there, huh?" he said with a wink as he plopped down on the floor beside Dark Nation. "You mean you've never seen a human girl before?" he asked.

"I have… but they're ugly or just plain-looking for me. There's one executive in ShinRa named Scarlet; she's got this nasty cackle just like that Heidegger guy and I know how much Master hated those laughs but they just won't stop. Scarlet could be pretty but she's got loads of make-up on her face which makes her look much older than her real age…" she explained before raising up her head to look for Tifa again within the area. "Miss Tifa seems so natural and I was wondering if I could just stay here for a while just to be with her. The way she holds me is similar to the way Master holds me… they have the same grip, except that hers has this feminine touch to it. I like her!" She explained.

"What are you looking for?" he asked before yawning.

"Where did she go?" she asked.

"Who?" he asked.

"Miss Tifa." She replied with a look of longing on her face.

Red turned to Cloud and the others again, "Can anyone tell me where Tifa is?" he asked.

"Why?" Yuffie asked.

"Princess is looking for her." Red replied.

"Princess?" Cloud asked in awe again.

"Face it, Cloud… she's _Princess_." Vincent muttered under his breath as he stared at the loaf of bread before him, wondering if he should eat it or not.

"Princess?!" Cloud repeated unbelievably.

"Are you sure that cat is really Dark Nation? How come she likes Tifa? Normally she'd bite anyone's head off since she's very loyal to Rufus." Vincent muttered to Cloud.

"I still can't believe Red XIII called her _Princess_." Cloud muttered with a disgusted look on his face. "But yeah… that is Dark Nation… maybe she likes Tifa because she could sniff her good side…" he replied as he turned his gaze to Vincent.

"Tifa is doing laundry." Barret explained to Red XIII.

"All by herself?" Red asked as he got up and walked to them.

"She didn't want me to come with her because she says I need to rest and take it easy and insisted that coming with her is bad for the baby." Aerith reasoned with a sad look on her face.

"Don't you think she's been doing too much household chores lately?" Cloud pointed out, turning to Aerith.

"Yeah… and she says she doesn't need any help with it." Yuffie replied.

"The strange thing is, she even shut down 7th Heaven." Cloud added.

"Do you think there's something wrong with her?" Vincent asked.

"She just wants to… to forget…" Aerith replied, avoiding their gazes.

"Forget what?" Cid asked.

"…it's really something between the two of us…" she replied before standing up to gather all the dirty dishes.

Cloud frowned. "Is it something about me again?" he asked with a frown.

"No. She never mentioned anything about you… it's this guy… a _new_ guy she's… oh never mind…" she replied, trying to stifle a smile.

"A guy?" Red XIII asked.

"Mew?" Dark Nation uttered.

"Who's the guy? Can we meet him?" Barret asked excitedly.

"Is he someone we know?" Cloud asked with an inquiring look on his face.

Aerith thought for a while. "I don't know…" she lied.

"C'mon, Aerith!" Yuffie said, jumping out of her seat and going to Aerith, helping her with the dishes.

"Just a clue… he came from a well-off family." Aerith pointed out with a wink.

Everyone was silent.

"Is it that stuck-up rich brat with black hair?" Barret asked with a frown.

"No." Aerith replied.

"Who is he?" Cid asked.

"I said I don't know!" Aerith lied with an impatient tone.

"But you gave us a clue; you must know something!" Yuffie said.

Aerith smiled impatiently at them. "Just eat, will ya?" she asked.

They all fell silent.

Dark Nation closed her eyes and uttered a low "reorrr…" as if groaning.

Red XIII approached her again. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"I wonder when can I go home?" she told him.

"I can tell Tifa to bring you back home to ShinRa." He said.

"No! Don't do that!" she said, getting up in alarm and rushing to him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Not until Master comes back from Nibelheim! Please, let me stay here with Tifa…" Dark Nation replied.

Red XIII stared at her for a while. "Okay, then." He replied.

"And please, don't tell them who I am. I don't want Tifa to leave me…" Dark Nation said.

"Why are you so attached to her all of a sudden?" Red asked.

"Because she's nice…" she trailed off when she remembered something, "Speaking of Tifa… why was she crying awhile ago?" she asked.

"Oh, she's always crying… especially every night whenever she's on top of the roof, sits facing the ShinRa Tower while watching the stars and then she ends up crying." Red replied.

"Why?" she asked.

"Nobody knows… except for Aerith… maybe tonight you would like to go up there and stay with her to keep her company. Actually, we've never seen her so happy until you came here." He explained.

Dark Nation wanted to smile. "Really? Maybe she likes me too!" she said with a proud look on her face, sitting pretty and tall on the floor. "Hmf! Who could resist my beauty?" she asked regally.

Red XIII just stared at her in disbelief. "Whatever…" he said before lying down on his stomach and sighing heavily. "Hey Aerith, isn't it time for you to head to the Pediatrician?" he asked, turning to Aerith.

Cloud turned to Red, then to Aerith. "He's right. You want to go now?" he asked.

"Doctor's fee is so expensive…" Aerith told them.

"Meowr?" Dark Nation turned her head to Aerith.

"What are you thinking of, Dark Nation?" Red XIII whispered.

"I could give you Master's credit card number if you want to use it." She told him.

"Nah. Cloud has lots of money from before but he hides it and never uses it. He can take care of the expenses." Red explained with a reassuring look before yawning again. 

Dark Nation went to the table and approached Cloud, tapping his leg with her paw. He looked down at her curiously. "What do you want, Dark… I mean… Princess?" he asked.

"Meowrrr…" she uttered, meaning to say, "Where's Tifa?" 

"She's doing the laundry," Red XIII told her lazily.

Cloud turned to Red. "You can understand her?" he asked.

"Obviously." Red replied.

Vincent and Cloud exchanged curious looks before turning back to Dark Nation. The latter stooped down and patted Dark Nation's head. "Tell me, why did you run away? Did Rufus abuse you?" he whispered.

Dark Nation hissed and moved away. "He did not abuse me. He loves me. I'm his pet. Those nasty executives are the ones who hate me." She thought as she approached Red XIII and plopped down beside him, and unconsciously, she began to nuzzle her head and her whole body against his, surprising everyone in the kitchen.

Red XIII immediately got up and growled at her, "What's the big idea?!"

Dark Nation, realizing what she had done, got up and hissed at him. "Shut up! I didn't even know what I was doing!" she snapped angrily.

Cloud just looked away with a funny look on his face.

Aerith started to giggle.

Cid's mouth was wide open.

Barret made a disgusted face and said, "Ugh… just don't mate in front of us…"

Dark Nation wanted to faint but she just hissed at Barret. "What mate?!" she demanded angrily as she growled.

"For your information, I don't have no intention to mate with her!" Red XIII replied before walking towards Aerith who was still giggling hysterically. "Stop it, Aerith… it's not funny." He pointed out with a disgusted look on his face.

"But Red, if Dark Nation's in heat, you can't stop the *urge*… heeheeheeheehee!" Aerith whispered gently as she stooped down to pat his head.

Red just narrowed his eyes on her and turned away with a "Hmf! Fine!"

Cloud and Vincent exchanged confused glances. "That's unfair. How come whenever we're teasing Red, he ends up biting us?" the latter asked.

"Yeah, he didn't even bite Aerith…" Cloud muttered glumly as he eyed Red XIII.

Dark Nation bowed down her head and plopped down on the floor again by the stairs. "Crazy people…" she thought miserably before she closed her eyes and fell asleep…


	4. Chapter 4

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

_______________________________________________________

            That night, Dark Nation was allowed to sleep in the living room. For safety, since Cloud still doubts the feline, he just let Red XIII sleep in the living room too instead of making him sleep upstairs with Yuffie, Marlene and Tifa.

Dark Nation could not sleep because of the surroundings and the texture of the floor. "I miss Master's bed… it's so soft and fluffy… and it's cooler in his room." She told Red XIII.

Red didn't answer. He just stared at her in the darkness of the room.

Dark Nation yawned and got up, stretching, and then plopped down again. "Red?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he asked sleepily.

"Tifa didn't eat dinner." She told him.

"I know… everyone knows…" he replied.

"Is she sick?" she asked.

"No. She's just tired and went straight to bed." He replied.

Dark Nation jerked upright when she heard some noise from the roof. "What's that?" she asked.

"That's probably Tifa up in the roof…" Red replied.

Dark Nation stood up and headed for the stairs while Red remained on the floor watching her. She slowly went upstairs until she reached the last bedroom to the left and saw that the door was half open. She entered and saw Yuffie and Marlene already asleep on their beds, but Tifa's bed was empty. Dark Nation turned to the window and saw that it was open. Carefully, she got up on Tifa's bed and jumped out of the window, landing on the roof of the other house, then leapt up again until she reached the roof where Tifa was. 

Tifa turned her gaze to Dark Nation who just got up beside her. She smiled gently. "Hello, Princess… how'd you know I was here?" she asked as the black panther snuggled closer to her and started to purr. "Red XIII told me where you are," Dark Nation thought as she gazed up at the lovely night sky and then saw the ShinRa Tower. "Meowrrr…" she uttered as she stared at its majestic appearance by the moonlight.

Tifa smiled sadly as she looked at the Tower. "It's funny how one could hate someone so much just because that someone did something bad to her family…" she said.

Dark Nation turned to her with a "Mew?"

She chuckled lightly as she embraced Dark Nation. "…and then she ends up falling in-love with the enemy…" she said softly with tear-stained eyes.

Dark Nation twitched as her eyes narrowed when she turned hear head to Tifa's direction, as if meaning to say, "Sephiroth?!" with a low growl.

Tifa let her tears fall as her embrace tightened around Dark Nation and whispered with a trembling voice, "Rufus…" she smiled miserably.

Upon hearing that, Dark Nation's heart began to race. "WHAT?! You're… you're in-love with… with Master!?" she wanted to say, but all she could do was utter a "Meowrrr?!" with an inquiring tone.

Tifa didn't answer. She just rested her head on Dark Nation's fur. "Is there even a way for him to know that I exist?" she whispered miserably.

Dark Nation could sense the sadness from Tifa and she felt so sorry for her. "Don't worry, Tifa… I can do something about that! We… we can go to ShinRa and I'll make sure that Master will let you stay there with us because you are such a nice girl and I like you because you are very kind and gentle!" she thought as her purr grew louder and she rubbed her face against Tifa's cheek to reassure her that everything is going to be alright.

With that, Tifa wiped her tears away and smiled sheepishly at Dark Nation. "I'm sorry if I'm crying, Princess…" she said as she turned her gaze to Dark Nation. "Is that even your real name?" she asked.

Dark Nation stared at her unbelievably. "Uh-oh…" she thought.

Tifa smiled gently before standing up, but she almost lost her balance when someone threw a stone with a sharp edge at her. It did not really hit her, but it scratched her cheek. She winced in pain but did not say anything. 

Dark Nation hissed and looked down, seeing a couple of gangster boys standing there with impish grins on their faces. "Aha, so the lovely lady has a kitty." She heard one of them say.

Tifa took a few steps backward and summoned for Dark Nation to follow her. "Let's just go, Princess… they're mean and ugly and…" she stopped when she saw that Dark Nation jumped off from the roof and started to attack the goonies. "No!" she screamed.

*** 

            Everyone who was asleep in the house woke up by the sound of Tifa's scream.

Yuffie gasped when she saw that Tifa's bed was unoccupied and that the window by the bed was open. "Tifa!" she called out as she looked outside the window, but backed off when she saw Tifa entering.

Cloud rushed inside their room, wide-eyed, "Where's Tifa?" he asked.

Tifa got inside and pushed everyone away from her as she grabbed her gloves and rushed downstairs.

Red XIII was trying to open the door but he couldn't. "Get away!" Tifa told him before she opened the door and rushed outside, seeing Dark Nation fighting the goonies all alone.

Red XIII rushed outside and attacked the other goon, leaving the other one for Dark Nation alone. The goon that Dark Nation was battling with was holding a dagger in his hand but somehow, he could not stab her because she was too damn fast for him.

Tifa watched in awe by the doorstep, seeing the way Dark Nation was fighting. "I think she's been trained to protect someone…" she thought. But she saw that there were other goonies lurking around. "Must be with those two…" she thought as she saw five more of them coming out from the dark alleys and heading for her direction. "Uh-oh…" she muttered as she prepared to attack them.

"Tifa!" Dark Nation saw that she was in danger so she left the goonie alone and ran to Tifa, standing beside her and hissing at the other goonies, warning them to stay away. When they insisted on attacking Tifa, Dark Nation began to cast a barrier.

Cloud saw everything from the door and he was really in awe upon seeing Dark Nation really protecting Tifa. Quickly, he got his sword and helped Tifa with the battle.

Barret, Cid and Vincent also joined in…

*** 

            "Nice goin' Tifa. You had to wake us all up and @#$%^$ fight those goonies." Cid told her as he started to nurse his black eye with an icepack.

Tifa frowned at him. "You should've just stayed inside then and minded your own business. I had to help Princess and Red XII, you know? You don't know those goonies. They've been after me for a month now because…" she trailed off and looked away.

"We know why. Those foo's are maniacs… but we beat their asses hard enough! Ha ha hahahaha!" Barret laughed gaily.

Aerith bit her lower lip as she applied some Povidone Iodine on the wound on Tifa's cheek. "I thought you said it was only a scratch. How come it's bleeding badly?" she asked Tifa.

"I didn't realize that it was that deep. That stone's really sharp." Tifa told her while trying to mind off the pain.

Cloud was observing Dark Nation while she was licking her wounded right leg. "She's been stabbed on her right front leg." he told them.

All eyes turned to Dark Nation. Tifa's eyes grew wide as she gasped and ran to Dark Nation, kneeling down beside the injured animal. "Oh my God… are you okay?" Tifa asked as she examined the wound.

Dark Nation stopped licking and looked up at Tifa with hurtful eyes. "I'm fine… but I won't be able to walk properly for a few days until this thing heals… but as long as you're safe from those goonies…" she wanted to say, but she just uttered a soft "Meowrrr…" and started to purr as she nuzzled her head against Tifa's hand. Tifa smiled gently as she patted Dark Nation's head. "Good girl…" she said.

Red XIII sat down beside Dark Nation who was plopped lying on her stomach on the floor and licking her wounds. Tifa moved away from them and got up, going back to Aerith who was already telling her to be careful next time.

"What do those maniacs want with Tifa anyway?" Dark Nation demanded from Red.

Red just stared at her.

Dark Nation stopped and looked up at Red. "Reorrr…" meaning to say, "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

Red snapped out of his trance and plopped down facing her and started to lick her wound for her.

Unknown to them, everyone was watching Red XIII take care of Dark Nation.

"Meowrrr!" Dark Nation reacted, meaning to say "Stop that!" and scratched his face with her left paw. He wasn't able to turn his face away so he ended up having small scratch marks on his face; but seeing the marks made her cringe "Meow…" and she moved closer to him to lick his face before purring. "I'm so sorry," she told him as she continued to lick his face.

Cloud turned to Vincent with a glum look on his face. "How do we explain to Rufus that his cat likes Red XIII?" he muttered.

Vincent just looked away.

Tifa smiled as she saw Dark Nation snuggle closer to Red XIII until she fell asleep. After she did so, Red XIII yawned and leaned his head closer to Dark Nation's face, closed his eyes and fell asleep too.

"They look so cute…" Tifa said softly.

"It's nice to know that Red finally found a friend who also walks with four feet…" Barret told them with a wink.

Cid looked at the clock. "Well… it's late. I think we should all get some sleep." He told them as he got up from the chair and left the kitchen to go upstairs, careful not to step on Dark Nation and Red XIII.

With that, all the others followed.


	5. Chapter 5

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

_______________________________________________________

            Rufus looked up at the ShinRa Mansion, his mind getting flooded with memories from his childhood. "Well… as long as they don't put up old man's pictures up the wall…" he thought as she turned around and began to watch some children playing with their pets. One of them owned a small black cat and it reminded Rufus so much of Dark Nation. He stopped himself from smiling as he reached for his mobile phone inside his pocket and started to dial some numbers. "It's about time I call up and check on those idiots…" he thought before hearing someone pick up from the other line and say, "Kya~h… good morning. This is Scarlet of the Weapons Development Division." 

"Scarlet, I'd like to speak to Heidegger. This is Rufus." He told her with a stern voice.

He heard her gasp and then heard some footsteps. "She must be on the cordless phone…" he thought as he began to walk around the garden of the ShinRa Mansion.

"You sound so frantic," he told Scarlet.

Scarlet was panting. "M…me? Frantic? Kya~hahaha! No! I was running…" she said.

"Why did you gasp?" he asked, probing her.

"Me? Gasp? N…no, I didn't…" she said.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Heidegger. Kya~h."

*** 

            Heidegger looked up from his desk when he saw Scarlet run inside his office. "Gyahaha! Who's on the line?" he asked.

Scarlet covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "It's President Rufus! This is his last day in Nibelheim and he wants to talk to you…" she said.

Heidegger's eyes grew wide. "WHAT?! And we still haven't found that cat?!" he demanded angrily.

Reeve entered with a bunch of papers on his hand. "What's going on?' he asked.

"Kya~h… it's President Rufus! He's calling to check on things, I guess…" Scarlet said.

Heidegger got up from his seat and began to pace back and forth. "Oh no… what am I going to tell him when he comes back and he finds out that Dark Nation is… GYAH! He's going to kill me!" he said frantically.

"HELLO, SCARLET?! WHAT'S GOING ON?" They heard Rufus's loud voice from the phone.

Reeve grabbed the phone. "Hello, President Rufus, this is Reeve," he said with a calm tone.

"Reeve? Why? Where is Scarlet? I thought she's giving the phone to Heidegger?" Rufus asked with a demanding tone.

"Uh… President Rufus, we have some bad news for you…" Reeve started.

"What are you doing?!" Scarlet grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to her.

"We need to tell him the truth that Dark Nation ran away! What if Dark Nation doesn't want to come home because she hates us and she'll only come back once Rufus is here?" Reeve told her.

"WHAT?!?!?" they heard Rufus's angry tone which made them shiver.

"I think he heard what you said… Kya~h…" Scarlet told him with a weak smile.

Heidegger grabbed the phone and spoke up, "Hello, sir?" 

Dial tone.

"I think we'd better start hiding now…" Heidegger declared.

*** 

            Tifa had awoken to the sound of Dark Nation meowing loudly and frantically. She sat up on her bed and looked around, remembering that the panther slept beside her during the night and she was only surprised to find out that the panther is gone and meowing loudly downstairs. "Oh no…" she thought as she got up from the bed and rushed outside the room. As she was heading downstairs she stopped midway when she saw Red XIII rushing and headed for Cloud & Aerith's room, knocking frantically at their door with his paws. "Cloud! Aerith! Let me in!" he called out.

Tifa examined Red. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"That cat's in heat! I'm staying away from her!" Red XIII told her frantically.

"Relax, Red! It's only Princess!" Tifa told him before she headed downstairs.

"I tell you, she's been rubbing her body against me all night and it's driving me crazy!" Red called out to her in a loud voice as she got down and started searching for Dark Nation, only to find out that the black panther was sprawled on the floor, tossing and turning frantically while continuing to meow loudly. "Have you even had babies before?" Tifa asked as she crossed her arms.

"Meowrrrrrr…" Dark Nation replied, meaning to say, "No…"

"Well, she's a cat. Maybe it's mating season for panthers…" Vincent said from the kitchen.

Tifa turned to Vincent in disbelief. "You're up already? It's only 6:30." She said.

"Her meowing woke me up…" he explained before taking a sip of coffee.

Then, they looked up at the ceiling when they heard the sound of a chopper passing by.

"Must be Rufus." Vincent told her. He stopped when he realized that Tifa's ears turned red and that she was pursing her lips to stop herself from smiling. She looked away from him as she started to take out some bacon from the freezer. 

"Meowr… Meowrrr… Meowrrrrrrrrr….." Dark Nation continued as she rolled on the floor.

"She'll be gathering all the dust on the floor if she keeps on doing that." Vincent told Tifa.

"Let her be. She's in heat. She needs a man." Tifa said before giggling.

"Well then, where's Red?" he asked, trying to stop himself from laughing because he thought that it just wouldn't seem right for him to laugh at that moment since he really wanted to sleep but couldn't because of the noise.

"He's hiding from her." she explained as she poured some corn oil on the frying pan before starting the fire.

Vincent thought for a while. "Can they even mate? I mean, I'm pretty sure that Red XIII isn't a cat." He pointed out.

"If there's a will, there's a way," Tifa replied.

He made a face. "You really want them to do it, huh?" he asked.

"Well… it'd be nice to have kittens around here, right?" she asked with a silly tone.

Vincent shook his head in disbelief.

*** 

            "Shall we distribute flyers or post some ads everywhere and we'll write there: _Have you seen Dark Nation?_" Scarlet told them.

Rufus was quiet as he stared at his staff. They were inside his office. "No, I want all of you to just search for her manually. And when you find her, don't hurt her!" he told them before he stood up and headed for the window, watching the beautiful surroundings. He felt pleased with himself, being able to change the first six Sectors of Midgar. "Just one more… Sector 7…" he thought silently with a secret smile on his face.

"What caused her to run away, anyway?" Rufus heard Elena ask Scarlet.

"Kya~hahahaha! Stupid Heidegger here brought a leash and muzzle with him one morning before giving Dark Nation some breakfast. The cat got afraid and ran away." Scarlet explained.

Rufus stiffened when he heard that. "What?" he demanded before turning his gaze to them.

Everyone felt like shrinking when they saw Rufus's eyes narrowing in too much annoyance but he was still silent about it. "Damn these idiots…" he thought miserably before speaking up with a hard tone, "Heidegger," he began.

Heidegger jerked. "Y…yes, sir?" he asked with a trembling voice.

*** 

            Aerith and Tifa observed quietly as Dark Nation kept on rubbing herself against the furniture, the wall and the floor. "Man… she's really got it bad…" Aerith told her.

"Yeah…" Tifa muttered and smiled weakly. "Well, at least we humans aren't like animals…" she said with a slight blush on her face.

Aerith giggled. "That'd be gross! I remember seeing two dogs mating in the middle of the street just the other day when I did the shopping for groceries." She told Tifa.

Dark Nation ran to Tifa. "Meowrrrr…" she said as she rubbed herself against Tifa's leg.

"Princess?!" Tifa wailed as she moved away.

"Arrgh! This is torture! What is happening to me?" Dark Nation thought miserably as she plopped down on the floor and started to roll over repeatedly until she got tired and just let out loud meows.

"What time is it?" Tifa asked.

"3 pm." Aerith replied.

Tifa got up. "I gotta go and get the dry clothes outside and start ironing them." She said.

"You need help?" Aerith asked.

"No," Tifa replied as she started to walk.

"Tifa, can we talk?" Aerith called out, keeping her gaze on the floor.

Tifa stopped and slowly turned back to her best friend. "About me?" she asked sadly.

Aerith got up and went to Tifa, giving her a friendly but gentle hug. "You still go up in the roof every night, I know…" she said.

Tifa bit her lower lip, keeping her eye on Dark Nation. 

Aerith sighed heavily. "Cloud and the others are already starting to worry about you, Tifa. You work the whole day and then you sleep late at night. I don't know what to tell them anymore whenever they're asking me…" she said.

Tifa moved away from Aerith but she was smiling sadly. "I just feel so lonely, that's all… so those chores are my diversions so that I won't be able to remember how miserable my life is…" she said.

Aerith's heart sank. "I…is it because of Cloud and me?" she asked nervously.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Aerith, how many times do I have to tell you that long ago, I've already realized that he's just a friend?" she asked with a reassuring look on her face before patting Aerith's shoulder. "Besides, it's me who should be embarrassed about staying here with you guys… I mean, the two of you are already married and I could just be a burden to you and…"

Aerith embraced her friend. "Tifa, Tifa, Tifa… I understand you…" she said.

Tifa could feel her eyes welling up with tears. The moment she blinked, they just fell uncontrollably and all she could do was hug her friend for comfort. "Aerith, I… it's… it's… it's Rufus… I don't even know what I…" she trailed off when the front door opened and there was Cloud and Vincent standing there.

Tifa moved away from Aerith and just rushed upstairs, covering her face.

Cloud had this perplexed look on his face. "Did I hear the name _Rufus_ from her?" he asked.

Aerith didn't answer. She just looked at Dark Nation. "If there's only a way that I could make Tifa happy…" she thought quietly. 

Red XIII came down the stairs; the moment he did so, Dark Nation got up and ran to him, licking his face happily. "Red! It's so nice to see you again!" she told him as she meowed.

Red twitched.

Seeing Dark Nation made Cloud remember something. "Uh… Aerith, we need to talk…" he told her.

"Yes, Cloud?" she asked, turning her gaze to him and Vincent. She noticed the two looking at Red XIII and Dark Nation. "Is anything wrong with them?" she asked.

"Yes, there is…" he replied with a frown on his face, eyeing Red XIII carefully.

Red nuzzled his head closer to Dark Nation before saying to her, "Let's go upstairs," and led the way.

"Well, what is it?" Aerith asked with a stern look as she looked back at Cloud.

"Princess… isn't Princess… she is Dark Nation," he explained.

Aerith blinked. "Dark Nation?" she asked.

Cloud nodded.

"Who's Dark Nation?" she asked as she approached Cloud. Vincent closed the door behind him. "She belongs to Rufus ShinRa…" he explained.

Aerith's eyes grew wide in surprise. "R…Rufus ShinRa?" she asked, hardly believing it. She frowned and crossed her arms. "Have you known this ever since Red XIII brought her home here and didn't even tell me?" she demanded.

"Yes. Even Red knew… but he wanted to help the poor cat so…" Cloud trailed off.

"…and Tifa liked her so…" Vincent added.

Aerith sighed heavily. "Great… do you want Barret and the others to know that? They might turn her into stew. But thanks anyway for telling me…" she said before turning away and headed for the kitchen. "Rufus might come looking for that cat." She realized, then stopped and smiled. "Rufus might come looking for that cat…" she thought. Then, her smile faded away. "On second thought, I doubt if he'll even step into Sector 7… maybe he'll just send the Turks…" she thought silently.


	6. Chapter 6

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but my own mind that forced me to write this thing, thank you very much.

_______________________________________________________

            Rufus angrily got up from his office chair and headed for the window, gazing out at the night sky with an annoyed look on his face. "It's been five days ever since I got back here and you still haven't found Dark Nation! What kind of idiots are you?" he demanded angrily, though his voice was still stern and hard.

"Kya~h… Heidegger's the only idiot here in the first place, President Rufus! If it weren't for him…"

"Stop pointing fingers, Scarlet." Rufus faced them with a sarcastic smile on his face. "If you fools can't find her, then I'll go and look for her myself." He declared.

"Mister President, I advise that you do it tomorrow morning. It's already 9:00 and it's dangerous to go around Midgar at this hour," Reeve advised.

"I don't care. I've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?" Rufus snapped at him as he headed for the door. "Where did you look for her?" he asked as he stopped.

"Uhm… Within the building, outside the building, outside the gate, the whole of Sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6." Reno replied.

Rufus twitched. "What about Sector 7?" Rufus asked.

"Kya~h… we figured that your cat is very posh and she wouldn't really go to the slums…" Scarlet explained.

Rufus snorted before he headed out.

"You think one of us should go with him?" Elena whispered to Reno.

Before Reno could reply, Heidegger turned to them, "Gyah… follow him!" he commanded.

"The Horse-laugh guy said it…" Reno muttered to Elena before they followed Rufus.

Rufus began to quicken his pace, not wanting the Turks to really follow him. "I can take care of myself…" he thought as he began to run.

*** 

            "She finally stopped meowing loudly," Aerith told Cloud.

Cloud made a face as he turned a little red. "I think Rufus isn't going to like this…" he said.

"What?" she asked as she faced him.

Cloud sat up on the bed and sighed heavily. "They mated awhile ago…" he declared.

Aertih sat up. "Really? How did you know?" she asked in disbelief.

He smiled sheepishly at her, but before he could answer, they heard someone from the front door. "Wonder who could that be at this hour?" he asked with a perplexed look.

Aerith looked at the clock and it read "10:30 pm"

"I'll get it!" they heard Tifa's voice and her footsteps going down the stairs.

"She's still up?" Aerith asked in disbelief.

"She sleeps late, remember?" Cloud asked before he lied down again.

Aerith sighed heavily. 

"By the way, where's Red?" he asked.

"I think he's staying in Tifa, Yuffie & Marlene's room where Dark Nation is. You should see them together, they're so cute!"  she said with a sweet smile on her face.

Cloud made a disgusted face. "I'll keep that in mind, Aerith…" he muttered glumly.

*** 

            "Meowrrr," Dark Nation uttered as she snuggled closely to Red XIII, meaning to say, "Damn you, I think I love you…"

Red XIII's tail stiffened as he felt like melting. 

Yuffie and Marlene giggled as they watched the two.

Red XIII looked up at them. "You girls are still awake? And you, Marlene, you're supposed to be asleep already." He snapped.

"Heeheehee! I have no school tomorrow so I can stay up late." She replied.

Yuffie smiled sweetly at Red XIII. "So, Red… how does it feel?" she asked with a wink.

Red XIII was thankful for his red fur or else he could've sworn that they're already laughing at his blushing. "How does it feel what? ARE YOU CRAZY?! The cat just told me she loves me!" he said frantically, meaning to stand up, but Dark Nation placed her front leg over him as if to hug him so that he won't move away. "Meowrrrrrrr…" she said as she purred.

"Aww… ain't that sweet? Why? Don't you like her?" Yuffie asked with a disappointed tone.

"Leave me alone… I can't believe this cat made me do *that*" he muttered glumly as he covered his face with his front paws. 

"Is Princess going to have kittens soon?" Marlene asked excitedly.

Red XIII felt like shrinking.

"Meowrrr…" Dark Nation replied as she purred loudly, meaning to say, "I think so, Marlene…" 

"Oh no…" he said out loud; though deep inside him, he felt like shouting with joy… 

He just couldn't understand himself at that moment…

*** 

            Tifa opened the door. "Yes? Good eve…" she trailed off when she realized who it was. She took a few steps backward as she froze. "P…President…" she stammered in awe with her wide crimson eyes.

Rufus gaped at her, his mouth half-open as he did so, trying to find the right words to say. "She's…" he thought silently, recognizing who she is and from what group she had come from. He frowned slightly before flipping his hair, pretending to have forgotten who she is. "Pleasant evening, miss," he began with a snobbish tone.

"P…pleasant evening too, President Rufus," she started, feeling her own head burning.

He raised his eyebrows at her, noticing the sudden blush forming on her cheeks. He tried to stop himself from smirking, but he can't, so he just smirked. Duh. "What's your name?" he asked casually.

"T…Tifa…" she replied shyly.

"T…Tifa," he repeated.

She chuckled lightly. "N…no! Just Tifa." She said.

He shrugged. "Okay… Just Tifa…" he repeated.

Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"I know… Tifa. From AVALANCHE. Just trying to make you laugh some more." He said with a wink before taking a step inside the house. "Close the door, I don't want the Turks to know that I went here," he told her.

She did as she was told to do. "I don't think you should be here, President Rufus… you know this place…" she began.

"Why are you telling that to me? I'm looking for my pet." He stated before facing her.

"Your pet?" she asked.

"Dark Nation. That's her name. She's a big panther. Colored black." He explained as he flipped his hair again.

Tifa thought for a while. "Dark Nation?" she thought silently.

"She ran away from ShinRa while I was away because of General Heidegger's foolishness of holding a leash and muzzle when he invited her to have breakfast." He continued, looking at her, examining her looks; then, looking around the place, he licked his upper lip before speaking up again, this time, changing the subject. "You live here alone or with your family?" he asked.

"Not necessarily a family, sir," she replied.

He turned back to her with a weak smile on his face. "I see, you're just starting it? Who's your husband?" he asked.

"N…no! I'm single. It's Aerith and Cloud who's starting a family…" she explained flatly, feeling a little embarrassed. "…anyway, we do have a black panther here… we let her stay for a moment because she was starving and she needed a bath. I took care of her for three weeks because she's really a nice kitty… though I don't know where she really came from. Red XIII was the one who took her here." She said, wanting to change the subject.

He gazed at her. "May I see her?" he asked.

"Yes, sir… you may… she's upstairs in my bedroom… please wait here, I'll go and get her." she said with a shy smile on her face as she headed for the stairs, but Rufus got her hand and stopped her. "No, I'd like to come up with you, Tifa," he told her before he turned to the door and then back to her again with a weak smile on his face. "The Turks could just peek inside the windows and they can see me easily here." He explained.

She smiled gently at him. "O…okay… sir…" she replied.

"Rufus," he corrected.

She nodded as her smile widened. She felt like a geeky schoolgirl with a big crush on the most popular boy on campus. "Rufus," she repeated before she withdrew her hand from him and then led the way upstairs, but she stopped midway, surprising Rufus. He frowned slightly. "Anything wrong?" he asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be hating us?" she asked without even facing him.

He looked up at her, staring at her long dark hair and her long white robe. He smiled gently. "Not really…" he said finally. "Besides, I've fixed the first six sectors… Sector 7's the next one I'll be remodeling. I hope that proves that this Neo-ShinRa under my complete control is really trying to change its reputation." He explained.

Tifa was silent for a while before she proceeded upstairs, not even looking at him. She had her head bowed down, her gaze focused on the floor.

Rufus smiled secretly before he continued to follow her. "You have a charming house, Tifa," he told her. He thought that though it looked very simple and smaller than his usually big surroundings ever since childhood, it was still homey… like everything is peaceful and relaxing in that house… compared to his own home influenced by the corporate world.

"Thank you… Aerith was the one who decorated the whole place before she got married. We just helped her." she explained as they finally reached the second floor.

*** 

            "Who's she talking to?" Cloud asked Aerith.

"I don't know…" she replied sleepily as she closed her eyes, but she opened them again when she heard more footsteps passing outside their door. "Is Tifa with someone?" she asked as she sat up.

"I think so… maybe it's Vincent or Barret or Cid… or one of the girls…" he said.

"But there was someone at the door moments ago… and the others are asleep… Tifa's the only one who went downstairs." She said.

*** 

            Dark Nation began to feel alert as she sat up, sniffing the air.

"Anything wrong?" Red XIII asked.

"Meowrrr!" she sprinted to the door and ran outside in the hallway.

Red XIII stiffened when he recognized the scent and heard what Dark Nation had said, "Rufus!"

"What's wrong, Red?" Yuffie asked.

Red XIII ignored her. He just walked out of the room and as he did so, it was clear to him that Rufus ShinRa was really there. He was already kneeling down on the floor, petting Dark Nation's head and stroking her lovely black fur though he was not really saying anything.

Tifa just stood beside Rufus, smiling lovingly at them as she watched him embrace his black panther. She suddenly felt so lonely again. "After this, he's taking her home… and I won't be able to see them again…" she thought miserably.

Dark Nation purred as she rubbed her head against Rufus's hand. "Tifa is the one who took good care of me, Master." She wanted to say.

Red XIII heard and understood that but he didn't say anything, until Tifa turned to him with a sad look on her face. He looked up at her with sorry eyes.

Tifa's voice seemed to falter when she spoke up, "Why didn't you tell me that she's Dark Nation?" 

Rufus turned to Tifa and then to Red XIII. "What do you mean, Tifa?" he asked.

"That's Red XIII. He was the one who found Dark Nation in the streets… and took her here so that we could take care of her. He said her name was _Princess_." She explained.

Red XIII just sat down, facing all of them. "My apologies, Tifa. Cloud and Vincent knew that she's Dark Nation… I also knew all the time… but she's hungry and dirty and she needed someone to take care of her so I brought her here to you and Aerith. I didn't say her real name because of the fear that Barret might just kick her out of the house… I wouldn't want that to happen," he said, lowering his gaze to the floor.

Tifa was quiet, so was Rufus. 

Dark Nation looked up at Tifa and then back to Rufus. "What's going on?" she thought before she headed to Red XIII and rubbed her head against his neck. "Meowrrrrrr…" she began to purr as she told him, "Thank you, Red."

Rufus saw her endearment to Red XIII and he felt his heart sinking. "Is he your boyfriend, Dark Nation?" he asked.

"Yes," Dark Nation wanted to say out loud, but she could only say, "Meowr!"

To Tifa's surprise, Red XIII actually nuzzled his head against Dark Nation's head. She smiled gently at them. "Aren't they sweet?" she asked. Then, she covered her mouth, realizing that she was speaking to the wrong person about the "sweetness of love". She just turned away. "I'm sorry… never mind…" she muttered as she put down her hand.

Rufus stood up. "Yes, I think they're sweet, Tifa," he said, keeping his eye on her.

She looked back at him but her eyes grew wide when she saw Cloud, Aerith and Barret watching them from behind. 

Rufus, upon seeing her crimson eyes widen, turned around to look, but he just frowned upon seeing the three.

Barret was beginning to feel his temper shortening. "Why, Tifa, you darn foo'… you didn't even introduce us to your new boyfriend." He said with hints of sarcasm when he said the last word.

Rufus's eyes narrowed at him but just decided to look back at Tifa, then to Dark Nation. "Let's go home, Dark Nation." He said.

Dark Nation stopped purring as she looked up at her Master. "Go home? Don't you wanna stay here for Tifa?" she wanted to say.

"And what is this ShinRa guy doin' here? Isn't he supposed to be in his big home and not in this dump?" Barret continued.

Rufus clenched his fists as he approached Dark Nation, "Stop acting like that, let's go!" he scolded impatiently as he turned away from her and led the way to the stairs.

Cloud just looked at him.

Aerith was looking at Tifa to see how her friend was reacting to the situation… but Tifa couldn't move. She just stood still as she watched Rufus go down the stairs. 

But she had tears in her eyes.

But the steps were too narrow and since he wasn't used to using such narrow steps when he's going down, he just tripped and fell.

Barret and Cloud watched in awe as Rufus landed on the first floor. "Ow… that's gotta hurt…" Cloud muttered with a sour look on his face.

Tifa's eyes grew wide and she rushed down the stairs. "Rufus, are you okay?" she asked in alarm.

Rufus got up, though his face was red in embarrassment. His knees felt weak but he still struggled to stand tall. "I'm okay. Not to worry about broken bones or anything…" he said with a stiff tone, followed by a soft, "Ow…"

Dark Nation slowly got down and nuzzled her head against Tifa's leg. "Please come with us, Tifa… you and Red… can't the two of you just live with Master and me?" she wanted to say.

Red XIII bowed down his head and he just lay on the floor on his stomach, feeling so low when he heard what Dark Nation had wanted to say out loud to Tifa.

Aerith approached him, knelt down and patted his head gently while stroking his back fur. "It's okay, Red… I know how much you like her…" she said sadly.

Red avoided her gaze. "Never mind…" he muttered miserably. "…can't do anything about it anymore… the Princess needs to go back to her palace. She can't stay here…in this miserable little place." He said sadly as he closed his eyes.

"Oh, Red… don't say that," Aerith said as she embraced him tightly.

Red XIII nuzzled his head against his "owner's" neck; she was surprised when she thought she heard him whimper.

Rufus headed for the door and opened it, surprised to see the Turks waiting for him outside. He just sneered at them before turning back to Tifa and Dark Nation.

Tifa had this sad look on her face as she looked down at Dark Nation. "Go to Rufus now," she said.

"Meowrrr." Dark Nation replied, meaning to say, "No."

Tifa bit her lower lip, trying to stop herself from crying as she reached down to the black panther and hugged it gently. "I'm going to miss you… now, go to Rufus, he's waiting for you. Go on… c'mon, go to him." She said gently.

"Sir, she's…" Reno started.

"I know, don't remind me. I am not an idiot like you are," Rufus snapped.

Tifa got up and led the way to the door so that Dark Nation would follow her, but the panther didn't.

Rufus frowned at his pet. "Dark Nation," he called out with a commanding voice.

The black panther looked back up at the stairs, wondering where Red XIII went. "Meowrrr?"

"Dark Nation," Rufus repeated with an impatient tone.

Dark Nation bowed down her head as she headed for Rufus slowly. "Yes, Master…" she thought miserably.

Rufus looked down at Dark Nation, then to Tifa. His face looked stern even as he said, "Thanks", but he felt his heart sinking when he saw the tears in her eyes and the look on her face that seemed to tell him not to leave her. He just bowed down his head and looked away as he stepped outside, pushing Reno and Rude away from his path.

Dark Nation followed closely beside him, her head still bowed down. She looked so miserable as she walked.

Tifa just closed the door and bowed down her head as she leaned against the wall, sighing heavily.

Aerith slowly descended the stairs, keeping her eye on Tifa as she did so.

Tifa looked up at her friend and smiled sadly as tears began to stream down her face.

Aerith approached Tifa and gave her a comforting embrace. "Shh… it's okay…" she said gently.

Tifa shook her head as she embraced her friend. "No… no, it's not okay… it's not okay…" she repeated helplessly.

"What's up with her?" Yuffie asked Barret and Cloud.

The two didn't answer.


	7. Chapter 7

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Squaresoft. Gyah…

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

            "Did you see the way he looked at her?" Elena repeated for the 10th time several days after they got Dark Nation back.

Reno scratched his head in annoyance before pounding on the table, rattling the plates and the spoons. "Yes, Elena. I saw it. The President adores that girl. Okay? Now stop asking that annoying question!" he snapped impatiently before proceeding to eat.

Elena giggled and stared at him for a while and then spoke up again, "Did you see the way he looked at her?"

Reno almost gagged.

The Turks were having their lunch in the cafeteria for employees. 

"And the way that girl looked at President Rufus? I've never seen two people look at each other that way before!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, looking at each other in disgust." Reno muttered glumly.

"NO! I meant…" before Elena could continue, General Heidegger had to butt in as he sat down beside Rude. "Will you stop that, Elena? If President Rufus heard you, he'll definitely put you in the gas chamber!" he snapped impatiently.

"Hmf…" Elena looked away from Heidegger.

Reno made a nasty face at her which made her cringe and just leave the table, transferring to the table where Scarlet and Reeve were seated.

"By the way, were you able to feed the cat this morning?" Heidegger asked Reno.

"Surprisingly this morning, I approached her and she didn't even bite me. It's a miracle… I wonder what that Tifa did to tame her… she must be really good with animals!" Reno explained.

"Same with me yesterday and the other day! Dark Nation didn't even scratch me… but she didn't even touch her food." Heidegger explained.

"Kya~h… maybe Tifa brainwashed the cat to dislike the food here. After all, maybe she fed Dark Nation some garbage from the slums! Kyahahahahahahaha!" Scarlet pointed out upon hearing Heidegger.

"I don't think so, Scarlet… maybe you should stop discriminating those people from Sector 7." Reeve explained with a glum look on his face.

"Kyahaha! Why? It's as if you came from that place?" she demanded.

"Maybe you did in your past before you've been promoted and became stable?" Reeve suggested with a sly smile on his face before he stood up. "I'm done," he said before leaving the cafeteria.

"Kyah… that guy is nuts…" Scarlet muttered before turning to Elena. "So, Elena, what do you think?" she asked.

"I think Miss Lockheart is a nice girl." Elena replied.

"What?" Scarlet demanded with an enraged look on her face.

With that, Elena got up. "Whoops! Gotta wash my hair!" she said before running out of the cafeteria.

Heidegger laughed at Scarlet. "Gyahahahahaha! You wanna join our table, Scarlet?" he asked with a sarcastic look on his face.

Scarlet just rolled her eyes and got up. "Kya~h! No thanks…" she said before stomping out of the cafeteria with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh well… at least we got rid of the noise…" Reno muttered.

Rude just nodded his head.

Heidegger turned to the Turks. "So, tell me more about what happened that night," he said with a sly smile on his face.

*** 

            Rufus stared at his pet and crossed his arms with a deep frown on his face. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked.

Dark Nation placed her paws over her eyes while uttering a low "Meowrrr…" as if to say "Leave me alone… I feel so bad…"

Rufus stooped down and patted her head gently. "What did Tifa do to you?" he asked.

"She just took care of me and then now I miss her… and Red XIII too…" she wanted to say out loud, but all she could do was say "Meowrrr…"

Rufus stood up straight and flipped his hair. "Fine. You don't want to eat? I'll take you to the vet," he said with a mean look on his face.

Dark Nation just remained there, unmoving. "Yeah, yeah, whatever… take me to the vet… I don't care anymore… I want to see Tifa and Red…" she thought miserably as she rolled over and played dead.

Rufus sighed heavily and shook his head. "Stop that," he muttered glumly before going to his office table and got to the intercom. He pressed a button and spoke up, "Get me the vet." He commanded before letting go of the button.

"Yes, sir." The secretary replied.

Dark Nation rolled her eyes. "I thought you're taking me to the vet? How come you just called for him?" she thought.

Rufus sat down on his chair and waited for a few moments before the door opened. An old man entered wearing a white laboratory coat. He reminded Rufus so much of Hojo who died, but Rufus didn't really care. He just got up from his seat. "Good afternoon, President Rufus," the Vet greeted.

Rufus gestured to Dark Nation. "She's been acting like that ever since we got her out of Sector 7." He explained.

The Vet approached Dark Nation and noticed her playing dead. "Sit down, girl," he commanded.

Dark Nation did not obey.

The Vet just shook his head in disbelief as he knelt down beside Dark Nation and began to feel her tummy. "I think there really is something wrong with her, President, she's not biting my hands…" he wanted to say out loud to make the President laugh but he just kept quiet. 

Dark Nation looked up at the Vet; he just looked at her. "How long has it been since you got her out of Sector 7, President Rufus?" he asked before looking up at Rufus.

Rufus thought for a while before answering. "A month," he replied.

The Vet smiled. "I see…" he said with a grim look before turning back to Dark Nation and patted her tummy gently. "Well then, President Rufus, your Dark Nation is going to be a mommy very soon," he announced.

Rufus's eyes grew wide in shock. "WHAT?!"

*** 

            Aerith was observing Red XIII as he remained sprawled on the floor, just looking at his food dish that was still filled with food. 

Tifa sighed heavily, which made Aerith turn to her. "You and Red are more miserable each day…" she said softly.

Tifa just bit her lower lip. "I miss Rufus," she told Aerith.

"I miss Dark Nation," Red XIII admitted sadly.

Cloud, Barret and Cid had disgusted looks on their faces.

Vincent sighed. "I miss…" he trailed off when he noticed everyone looking at him in surprise. He just cleared his throat and crossed his arms, turning away.

"Don't start, Vincent," Barret muttered.

"I just want to break the ice." Vincent replied glumly.

"You? Break the ice? That is so not you!" Yuffie said before giggling.

"Oh man! What did you see in that @#$%*$ Rufus anyway?!" Cid demanded from Tifa.

"Stop criticizing him! He just seems so bad on the outside but deep inside, he's really nice!" she snapped impatiently.

Everyone fell silent before she finally got up and stomped her way upstairs.

"Nice goin', Cid. You just had to say that," Barret snapped.

"Say what?" Cid asked.

Cloud just shook his head in disbelief.

Aerith sighed heavily before she stood up and went to Red. "Come here, let's take you out for a walk." She said.

"At this time?" Red asked.

"Yes," she replied.

Cloud got up. "I'll go with you," he told them as he led the way to the door.

Red grunted as he stood up and walked to Cloud with his tail dangling low behind him and his head bowed down… but since he wasn't looking where he's going, he bumped his head against the doorway and just he just plopped down to the floor with a miserable "Ow…"

Cloud bent down. "Get up, will you?" he asked as he tugged on Red's neck, but the creature got up and snapped his jaws on Cloud's hand again.

"YEOOOOOOWCH!!!!!!" Cloud yelped in pain as he withdrew his hand from Red XIII's mouth.

Aerith giggled as she approached them. "You shouldn't touch his neck like that, he hates it," she said.

Cloud's eyes were already teary. "Yeah… whatever…" he muttered glumly before stepping out of the house but still kept his annoyed gaze at Red XIII.

Red XIII smiled sarcastically at him, trying to mind off the pain on his head. He could recall that before, when he could feel his head aching, Dark Nation would come to him and lick his head, meaning to make it feel better. He smiled sadly at the memory. "Oh well… no use remembering now… she's gone…" he thought miserably as he trailed behind Cloud and Aerith.

He looked up at the two, seeing Aerith touch Cloud's injured hand and caress it gently with a smile on her face. It made Red XIII sigh miserably and just look down to the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Squaresoft. Gyah…

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

            Rufus was seated on his office chair, feeling so ridiculous and shaky. "My panther is… my panther is… my panther is…" he kept on saying breathlessly.

Dark Nation was sprawled on the floor beside him, looking up at him ridiculously. "Meowrrr…" she uttered, as if to say, "Snap out of it! I'm pregnant, okay?"

Scarlet and Heidegger were still fanning him with empty folders while Reeve tried to offer him a glass of ice cold water.

"What did the vet say again?" Elena whispered to Reno as they stood in one corner of the room, just observing Rufus freaking out.

"The black cat's pregnant. Heheheheh… she must've had a wild rendezvous in the slums with a stray! Heheheheheh…" Reno snickered maliciously.

Elena's eyes grew wide in surprise as she gasped. "If she's pregnant, how come it made President Rufus faint?" she asked.

"Probably too hard for him to take… or maybe he's excited." He replied, shrugging as he shoved his hands inside his trouser pockets. "But how could that big thing have sex with a stray cat? I doubt if there are any more big cats like Dark Nation roaming around in the slums…" she told him.

Reno raised his eyebrows at Elena, "I never knew you could ask such questions?!"

"Hey, I'm curious, okay?" she snapped before approaching Rufus.

"Excuse me, sir, don't mind me asking but… what do you think happened?" she asked.

Rufus just looked up at her blankly with a stunned look.

"Dark Nation is going to have panther cubs…" he muttered glumly.

"Is that so bad?" Reeve asked.

"N…not really… but…" Rufus started.

Dark Nation felt so impatient and annoyed with her master so she just got up and went to Rufus and big his hand that was dangling from the armrest. "AAARGH!!!" He screamed in agony as he withdrew his hand from Dark Nation.

Scarlet and Heidegger moved away from Rufus and the panther, suddenly aware that Dark Nation could be dangerous again…

Rufus got up and shook his head in disbelief at Dark Nation before marching to the door. "I need to see her," he said aloud with a frantic look on his face as he raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. He was beginning to sweat because of the tension, so he removed his two white coats, revealing his long-sleeved black turtleneck.

"President Rufus, where are you going? Gyah…" Heidegger ran after him.

Dark Nation sprinted to Rufus, running as fast as she could. Finally, she reached him and she slowed down a bit to match his pace as he headed for the elevator. 

"Leave me alone, Heidegger," Rufus snapped.

Heidegger stopped in his tracks.

The others joined him. "Where's he going?" Reeve asked.

"I thought I heard him say that he needs to see _her_… who's the her?" Reno asked.

"Don't you think we should follow him? He's actually going out alone!" Elena said.

"Gyah… if we follow him, he'd kill us… it's his command, we have to obey him…" Heidegger replied, though he really did not like the idea of letting Rufus out of the building without any bodyguards.

*** 

            "Where are we going, Master?" Dark Nation thought as she looked up at Rufus as they continued to make their way to the train station.

Rufus could not believe that he was taking the train alone without any bodyguards. "Chill out, you can take care of yourself…" he thought silently as they finally boarded the train.

Everyone was looking at them, especially at Rufus as he took his seat.

"Is that Rufus ShinRa?" he heard someone ask.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't be caught dead riding a public transportation like this… he has cars, you know? Besides, he wouldn't leave without any bodyguards," he heard someone answer.

Rufus just looked down to the ground as he crossed his arms across his chest, sighing heavily. "Well, I am that goddamned President Rufus…" he thought miserably before he heard the voice from the announcer saying, "This train is headed straight to Sector 7. Have a nice trip. Good day,"

He could feel his heart racing so he just turned to Dark Nation who was seated on the floor, staring up at him. He smiled gently at her and patted her head. "I'm going to be asking questions to your other guardian when I was away regarding those kittens of yours," he thought silently as he stroked her fur gently.

Dark Nation came nearer and nuzzled her head against his legs. "Meowrrr…" she purred happily, meaning to say, "I knew you're going to like Tifa, Master Rufus!"

Then, he gently slapped her head. "You nasty cat. Why did you bite my hand moments ago?" he muttered angrily.

She hissed and scratched his face. "You didn't have to slap my head!" she wanted to say.

Rufus's eyes grew wide before getting a pocket mirror and groaned upon examining his face. "Damn… now my face has a scratch…" he thought miserably as he saw some blood on his left cheek.

"Don't worry, it will not produce a scar to ruin your handsome face, I'm sure of it…" Dark Nation thought as she yawned and climbed up on the seat beside Rufus and decided to sleep for a while by resting her chin on his leg.

He smiled gently as he started to stroke her fur. "You naughty girl," he muttered under his breath.

*** 

            "C'mon, Tifa, what's wrong? You used to be full of enthusiasm and now you're…"

Tifa pounded on the dresser and looked at Yuffie from the mirror reflection. "Do I have to explain over and over again?" she asked impatiently before starting to brush her hair again. "Fine, I'm desperate and I feel so lonely. How old am I? I'm past 21? And I could recall my mom telling me _'Tifa, by 21, you should already be stable'_… and look at me now… I mean, I'm living in this house doing household chores for all of you… I feel like some maid without any purpose in life." She thought silently, not really wanting to reveal her thoughts to Yuffie or else she would look very vulnerable. She just cried her eyes out for an hour until Yuffie finally got upstairs from the dining area. 

Her eyes still looked puffy but she did not care.

Yuffie giggled. "If it'd make you feel better, I think you should go shopping." She said.

Tifa stopped and turned to Yuffie. "What for? I'll just be burning money?" she said with a ridiculous look on her face before she got up and went to the closet to get some clothes and some shoes. Yuffie watched silently as Tifa pulled out a maroon floral sundress and a pair of black sandals.

"You're going out?" Yuffie asked.

Tifa smiled at her before she headed out for the bathroom to get dressed.

After a few moments, Tifa got out of the bathroom wearing the sundress and the sandals. Yuffie's eyes grew wide in awe. "Oh my God… Tifa, you look fantastic!" she said with a happy smile on her face as she approached Tifa and examined her further. 

Tifa didn't care. "Time to put these in the laundry…" she said as she showed Yuffie her old clothes.

"Oh, so you just changed so that you can wash your usual clothes?" Yuffie asked with a frown on her face as she placed her hands on her hips, looking strict all of a sudden.

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Why? You want me to stink?" she asked.

Yuffie shook her head as she grabbed the white top and the short skirt plus the socks. "Let me at those. You need to relax! Why don't you just go out for a while and enjoy the afternoon breeze?" she asked before rushing inside their room to pull out a black denim jacket from the closet and went back outside in the hallway where Tifa was standing in awe. Yuffie smiled reassuringly as she handed Tifa the jacket. "Relax, it's not like I'm gonna be bleaching everything!" she said.

Tifa smiled weakly. "O…okay…" she replied, thinking that she really needed the break somehow to clear her head. With that, she went downstairs and saw Barret and Vincent watching some television.

Their jaws dropped in awe upon seeing Tifa wearing different clothes. "Whoa, Teef! Where ya headin'?" Barret asked.

"Stroll." She replied simply with a wink before she finally got out.

Vincent raised his eyebrows. "Is that really Tifa?" he asked.

"I think so…" Barret muttered before they turned back their attention to the TV.

*** 

            Tifa continued to walk down the streets of Sector 7 until she came to a halt in front of a small Church. She looked up at the steeple and smiled gently upon the memory of Cloud and Aerith getting married in the same Church. She sighed heavily as she hugged herself. "That's got to be one of the most romantic couple I've ever seen…" then, she decided to enter the Church. "I wonder when I can finally meet that special someone and marry him?" she thought with a dreamy look on her face as she headed for the front pews and knelt down to pray.

*** 

            "So much for walks…" Red XIII thought miserably as he stared up miserably at Cloud and Aerith who were seated on a park bench and watching some of the people passing by while telling stories to each other. He just decided to lie on the ground on his stomach and just sleep, but he could not do so because he could hear Cloud & Aerith's voices.

He sighed heavily as he turned his gaze to the children playing in the playground. 

Suddenly, he remembered Dark Nation. He smiled bitterly. "Is she okay? What if she's already pregnant and then she gives birth? I want to be with her when that happens… but unfortunately, I can't… she's simply too far…" he thought silently as he watched the children.

Aerith looked down at Red XIII, sensing that there really is something wrong. "Red, do you feel okay?" she asked as she stooped down a little to pat his head.

He just shook his head.

Aerith sighed heavily. "Oh, Red… you've been so miserable ever since Dark Nation left… you're just like Tifa in that sense." She said honestly.

"I thought you didn't like Dark Nation? How come you're brooding over her now?" Cloud asked, looking at Red XIII.

Red looked up at them. "You know, you never really realize how much you love someone until they're gone…" he replied with a miserable voice and look before resting his chin on his two front paws.

Cloud thought for a while, remembering what he had felt when Sephiroth killed Aerith. He was really glad that Aerith is back after quite a long while. He nodded his head slightly. "I understand," he thought silently.

Red sighed heavily.

"That's the 95th time you've sighed that way today," Aerith pointed out.

"Never really counted it…" Red XIII muttered glumly.

"I think we should just leave him alone for awhile…" Cloud whispered to Aerith.

*** 


	9. Chapter 9

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Squaresoft. Gyah…

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Rufus looked around, scanning the whole area as he passed by. "I think we made a wrong turn, Dark Nation," he said aloud.

"Meowrrr…" Dark Nation replied, meaning to say, "I can just sniff the ground if you want to," before lowering her nose closer to the ground and started to sniff, trying to recognize the scent, but she stopped and stiffened when she recognized another familiar scent. Then, she lifted her head, sniffing the air around her.

Rufus noticed her sudden reaction and stopped walking as he stared at him. "Anything wrong, Dark Nation?" he asked, studying her.

Dark Nation stopped sniffing and looked up, turning to the building to her left. It was a Church.

Rufus looked up at the Church with a frown on his face, but it soon faded when he realized that the last time he attended a mass was during his mother's funeral. 

He did not even pray.

"Can we go inside for a while?" he asked his pet.

Dark Nation continued to sniff the air. "You should go inside, I guess…" she wanted to say to Rufus, but she could just say, "Meowrrr,"

Rufus smiled gently at her as he proceeded to the Church. He slowly opened the door, surprised to see that it was not locked since it was not even a Sunday. As he stepped inside, his eyes grew wide in awe upon seeing the insides of the Church. It was small but it looked very lovely because of the stained glass window designs plus the sunlight seeping through them. Compared to outside, it was cooler inside the Church. 

Following the trail of light from the last window, it led his gaze to a familiar-looking girl kneeling down on the front pew with her eyes closed.

She opened them again when she heard someone gasp from the door. She instantly got up, feeling alarmed all of a sudden that it could be some goon again, but when she turned around to look, her eyes grew wide in awe. "R…Ru…" she could not even say his name.

Rufus had this ridiculous thought in his mind: "God must've sent me an angel… and it's Tifa… oh hell, that's the mushiest thing I've ever thought of… well anyway," he stopped his thoughts and flipped his hair as he smiled coolly at her.

Dark Nation stepped inside and she felt overjoyed when she saw Tifa. "Meowr!" she sprinted to her and got up, as if trying to pounce her as she nuzzled her head against Tifa's neck. "Meowrrr," she purred, meaning to say, "Oh, Tifa, it's so nice to see you again!"

Tifa chuckled lightly, happy to see Dark Nation again as she embraced the big panther. "Oh, Dark Nation… It's you!" she said before scanning the panther's body. Her eyes grew wide in awe. "Oh my God… you've gotten fatter…" she stopped when she realized that the black panther is pregnant. Then, she turned back to Rufus who just remained standing by the front door, observing them quietly with a gentle smile on his face.

She smiled shyly at him before she decided to proceed to him. Dark Nation followed behind her until the three of them finally got out. 

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your prayer, I didn't know you were in there," Rufus told her as he flipped his hair again.

Tifa shook her head frantically. "N…no, it's okay… I was done anyway," she replied shyly; she could already feel her whole face turning red as she looked up at him and she noticed his smile widening and turning slyer than before. "Damn it, Tifa… you're going to get busted if he finds out that you like him…" she scolded herself silently.

Rufus looked up at the steeple, smiling at the Cross, and then turned back to Tifa when she spoke up with a hesitant tone.

"So, what are you doing here with Dark Nation? It's so unlikely of someone like you to be going to Sector 7 unless spying or something…"

He shook his head. "I was meaning to see you. I came here without any bodyguards that could interfere and disturb us," he said before flipping his hair again. "Damn it… stop flipping your hair… what if it irritates her?" Rufus scolded himself silently as he stiffened a little and turned to Dark Nation who kept on nuzzling her head and the sides of her body against his and Tifa's legs. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well… at least she's happy…" he thought silently before turning back to Tifa. "So, you wanna… grab a drink or something? I have some questions to ask you about Dark Nation's condition because… I never really had a pregnant pet before… I thought you might know something about those kind of things…" he stammered uneasily before flipping his hair again.

She blinked and nodded. "Of course. I could help you, Rufus," she said with a joyful glint in her eyes, already noticing that he wasn't wearing his usual jackets and that he has a good built. It made her blush even more, so she just turned away.

"Let's go," Rufus said, turning to his side to lead the way, but he tripped on Dark Nation, just as she was rubbing her side against his front legs.

He fell face-first with a loud "Whoa!"

Tifa covered her mouth to stop herself from reacting with a gasp. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked as she offered to help him, but he raised his hands to stop her. "I'm okay, not to worry," he said reassuringly with a weak smile as he stood up with trembling knees. He was still shaken by the fall. "This is the second time I fell right in the presence of Tifa…" he thought silently with a miserable look on his face, remembering the night when he fell down the stairs.

Dark Nation was licking her right front paw and she seemed to smile at Rufus when she said, "Meowrrr,"

Rufus narrowed his eyes on Dark Nation as he muttered, "You are such a naughty kitty," 

Tifa approached Rufus and mindlessly brushed off the dirt from his clothes. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, noticing that he was still shaken.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine…" he said as he walked in a wobbly manner which made Tifa assist him by putting her arm around his waist to support his weight. "Let me help you," she said with a shy smile on her face as they headed for the nearest café with Dark Nation trailing behind them, still purring happily.

Tifa helped him sit down and then sat down herself on another chair facing him and rested her elbows on the table, leaning a little bit forward. "What do you want? I'll get you a drink," she told him.

"I don't know… maybe just a strawberry shake. Haven't had one of those ever since…" he trailed off, not really wanting to disclose much information about his childhood.

But her smile and her line, "Ever since what?" had convinced him to do so. He smiled slightly as he lowered his gaze to the ground. "Ever since my mother died…" he said softly.

She nodded slightly as she looked down to the ground also. "I see… don't worry, I understand…" she said before standing up and giving him a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "I also lost my mother at a very young age…" she admitted before she got inside, leaving Rufus and Dark Nation there.

Dark Nation looked up at Rufus and she seemed to be laughing at him as she thought "Hahahaha! Master is blushing!" she chanted in her mind gaily.

Rufus made a face at her but she just hissed at him.

After a couple of minutes, Tifa came out again with two glasses of strawberry shake.

Rufus turned to her as she sat down again and gave him his order. "Did you pay that already?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked mindlessly as she took a sip.

Rufus frowned. "Let me pay you back, you should've just let me pay for our drinks." He said with a shy smile on his face as he made a move to get his wallet, but Tifa stopped him, "No, it's okay, really." she said with a reassuring smile.

He felt uncomfortable about just letting it pass, but he just leaned back and started to drink. "Thank you, Tifa," he said with a weak smile on his face.

She just smiled at him.

Dark Nation yawned and sprawled across the floor beside their table.

Tifa was examining his face and noticed the scratch on his cheek. "What happened to your face?" she asked.

Rufus remembered about Dark Nation scratching his face earlier. "Oh… nothing. Dark Nation scratched it." He said.

Tifa reached for her handkerchief and stood up, going to him, and wiped some blood away from his face. "Are you aware that it's still bleeding?" she asked gently.

Rufus frowned slightly. "No…not really… I thought it stopped awhile ago…" he told her as he took the handkerchief from her and applied some pressure against his own face. "Oh well…" he said as he looked at the sleeping Dark Nation before turning back to Tifa. "You're aware that Dark Nation is pregnant, right?" he asked.

Tifa sat down and moved her chair closer to him. "Yeah." She replied.

He smiled. "Do you know who the father is?" he asked.

Tifa frowned slightly as she thought for a while. "It's Red XIII. He belongs to Aerith." She explained with a smile on her face.

Rufus nodded. "Red XIII? He's that… uh… research specimen?" he asked.

"Formerly." Tifa corrected with a wink.

Rufus could feel his face getting warmer.

Dark Nation woke up upon sensing his sudden discomfort. She looked up at them and said, "Meowrrr?" meaning to say "So, when's the wedding?"

Rufus and Tifa looked down at her and raised their eyebrows at her, as if understanding what she wanted to say since they also turned red.

"You really are a naughty kitty," Rufus muttered as he nudged her gently with his foot.

Dark Nation hissed and bit his foot.

Rufus laughed. "Nice-tasting leather, huh?" he asked.

Dark Nation withdrew and spitted before wiping her mouth with her right front paw. "Eww… you should polish your shoes, Rufus," she thought miserably.

Tifa giggled as she stooped down to pat Dark Nation's head. 

Rufus studied them as he listened to the music playing in the background from the radio and smiled gently. "You like her, huh?" he asked.

Tifa nodded shyly. "She's very adorable… and she's also very loyal and nice…" she explained before looking at him. "How long has she been with you?" she asked.

"Ever since childhood. My mom gave her to me as a birthday present before she died…" he said with a sad look on his face.

Her smile faded away and she sat up straight again, facing him. "I'm sorry," she said gently.

He nodded slightly before turning back to Dark Nation who was looking at him with a look of sympathy in her eyes. "I was there when your mother died, remember? I could never forget that night… it was the reason why you became so cold and uncaring to more people…" she thought before turning to Tifa and said, "Meowrrr," meaning to say, "…I'm thankful for Tifa. I've never seen you smile so ever since your mother died… until she came into our lives, Master." She thought.

Tifa turned back to Dark Nation and stooped down to stroke to her fur. "Dark Nation, you're a pretty girl, huh?" she asked with a singsong voice as she giggled and tickled the black panther's chin. Dark Nation began to purr loudly before nuzzling her head against Tifa's hand.

Rufus scanned Tifa's features as he crossed his arms across his chest. Then, he stiffened when he recognized the song playing on the radio, "_Your body is a wonderland… your body is a wonder, I'll use my hands…_" He turned red as he twitched and stiffened before turning his gaze away from Tifa and just continued to drink his shake in a frantic manner.

Tifa turned to him. "Are you okay?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" he stammered with a weak smile.


	10. Chapter 10

The Lady & the Tramp 

_By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)_

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Squaresoft. Gyah…

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

            "Based on my observation on domesticated felines, some days before they give birth, they sniff around and look for a hidden place to give birth. They wouldn't want others to find out where she is…" Tifa explained as she and Rufus continued to walk down the streets with Dark Nation following them.

"But Dark Nation is not just a cat," Rufus said.

"I know… so maybe she might not do that… maybe she'll just stay in one place away from too many people except for her owner and then give birth there…" she explained.

Rufus thought for a while. "I think I'd better reserve a room for her." he said with a grim look on his face.

"Meowrrr," Dark Nation replied, meaning to say, "Yeah, you'd better give me a separate bedroom! I wouldn't wanna sleep in your room when you take Tifa there! Hahahahahahahahaha! It's gonna be icky!"

Rufus could sense that his pet was laughing at him, but he just shrugged it off. "Chill out, ShinRa… cats don't laugh…" he thought with a glum look on his face before turning back to Tifa with an unsure look on his face. "Uh… can you do me a favor?" he asked.

"Depending on what it is," she said conditionally.

"Okay… look, I really don't know what to do with Dark Nation. I just can't call the vet because I know she hates him… so, I was wondering if… if you… if you could consider staying in ShinRa for some days until she gives birth… is that okay with you?" he asked with a weak smile on his face. "Damn, Rufus… you suck!" he scolded himself silently.

Tifa's eyes grew wide in awe. "Me? Stay… stay in ShinRa?" she asked unbelievably, thinking how life is going to be inside the walls of ShinRa HQ.

"Yeah. I can pay you if you want to," he said.

"No, no thanks… no money needed, Rufus. It's fine with me. If you want me to take care of Dark Nation for you, I'll do it without anything in return," she said as she got his hands and shook them reassuringly.

He smiled at her, not caring if everyone else was looking at them in curiosity.

They entered a park and sat down together on one of the benches while Dark Nation sprawled down on the floor and yawned sleepily.

Tifa sighed heavily. "I'll just go there tomorrow," she told him.

"Can't you come back with me there today?" he asked.

Tifa was surprised at his sudden eagerness to take her to ShinRa. She was sure that if Barret could hear them, he'd snatch her away from Rufus and tell her, "Don't go with him! That's a trap. He'll kill you when you get there!" but she shrugged off the thought with a shy smile on her face. "I'll just pack some clothes and," he raised up his hand to her to make her stop talking. "No need to. I'll buy you new wardrobe," he told her.

She raised an eyebrow and she could feel herself shrinking. "But… Rufus, that's… I…" she stammered.

Dark Nation turned to her and said, "Meowrrr," meaning to say, "The guy likes you, okay? He's buying you stuff, just accept it, Tifa,"

Tifa blushed and turned back to Rufus with an embarrassed smile on her face. "I don't know, Rufus. It's too much…" she said humbly.

Rufus chuckled lightly. "No, really. It's okay." He told her reassuringly.

She just nodded her head, feeling so embarrassed. "Okay… whatever you say," she said shyly as she bowed down her head.

Rufus began to watch the view in front of him and his expression softened upon seeing the children playing. "I think I've seen you before in Nibelheim," he said.

"I used to live there." she said.

"You and the other kids would pass by the ShinRa Mansion and I can see you…" he pointed out.

Tifa smiled and looked up at him. "You're always there by the window, seated there." she said.

He nodded. "Yeah… that was me…" he replied.

"What do you do there?" she asked.

"Just sitting there until Scarlet calls me for tutorials… or when there's nothing to do. I just watch you and your other friends play." He explained.

"You could've joined us," she said softly.

He shook his head in disagreement. "Nah. Old man won't allow me. Dark Nation was the only one whom I could play with… she was still a cub back then, but very playful. Though sometimes, she gets lazy and she just sleeps the whole day, so I just stay by the window to watch you guys." He explained.

"But you have all sorts of toys, right?" Tifa asked.

"No, he doesn't. I chew on them." Dark Nation thought with a nasty look on her face.

"Dark Nation plays with them… so I play with electronic gadgets…" he replied. He leaned back and sighed contentedly "But anyway, Old man's dead. I can do whatever I want, but with modification, of course. Can't risk slipping, you know? If you know what I mean…" he said with a wink as he looked at her.

Tifa smiled. "Yeah… like come here to the slums. Don't worry, it's a much safer place now… ever since it's been restored and fixed a little." She said.

"Oh you know, I wouldn't leave this place like this… I'll make it look like Sector 3." He said as he examined the place. "I've already asked Reeve to study the blueprints…" he said with a sly look on his face.

Dark Nation rested her chin on her front paws. "I wonder how Red is…" she thought miserably with a "Meowr…" and looked up at Tifa.

Tifa turned to her and smiled gently. "Anything wrong, kitty?" she asked as she stooped down and patted Dark Nation's head.

Rufus followed her with his gaze and did not realize that he was staring at her body again.

Then, from out of the blue, someone just started singing "Your Body Is A Wonderland" from behind the bushes located just behind their bench, which made Rufus blush and look away, feeling so ridiculous and embarrassed that he stood up with clenched fists and turned to the bushes behind them. 

"Anything wrong, Rufus?" Tifa asked as she stood up, observing him while at the same time, thinking that the voice of the person who was singing sounded familiar.

Rufus parted some parts of the tall bushes and his eyes grew wide in surprise, so did Tifa's.

"Cloud? Aerith?" Tifa asked in disbelief.

Dark Nation raised her head to the direction of the bushes behind her and she got up immediately upon sniffing a familiar scent.

Rufus twitched lightly. "Great… Cloud's the one singing…" he thought, remembering the song since it already got stuck in his head.

Cloud and Aerith got up in unison and turned around, surprised to see Rufus and Tifa. "T…Tifa! And…" Aerith stammered in surprise.

"Rufus." Rufus continued for her with a proud smile on his face as he flipped his hair.

Red XIII immediately got up when he sniffed something familiar. "Dark Nation?" he said softly before getting up upon hearing a loud "Meowwrrr!"

He ran to the other side of the tall bushes as Rufus let go, and then stopped when he saw her. 

Dark Nation instantly ran to Red XIII. "Meowrrr!" she cried out happily, meaning to say, "Oh, Red! It's you!!!"

Red XIII smiled happily as he ran to her. "Dark Nation," he said.

Rufus and Tifa observed the two as they stopped running upon meeting each other and then just licked each other's faces.

"Hehehehe… what if humans do that? They lick each other's faces as sign of kissing," Tifa said jokingly as she giggled.

Rufus found it funny so he also laughed with her. "Well if we do, I would've licked your face when I saw you in the Church," he replied carelessly, which made Tifa stop and stare at him in surprise. 

Rufus realized that what he had said could imply something regarding his true feelings, but he gathered up his guts and just smiled and winked at her.

"Maybe I'd do that too," Tifa told him as she smiled sweetly before laughing again. Rufus joined in her laughter again.

Cloud and Aerith went to the other side of the bush to see what was going on, surprised to see and hear Rufus ShinRa laughing with Tifa Lockheart.

"What the…" Cloud trailed off when Aerith nudged him, signaling him to look at Dark Nation and Red XIII. Cloud stared for a while but after a few seconds, he found himself smiling, and he found himself smiling even more when he turned to Rufus and Tifa. "Finally, she's happy," he said softly to Aerith.

Aerith nodded as she smiled gently at the two. "Yeah…" she said.


End file.
